With three defeats from their previous four league games, there was plenty of pressure on Gian Piero Gasperini’s side heading into this match to keep their title ambitions on track, but the opening 20 minutes couldn’t have gone any better for the Giallorossi.
The hosts took the lead just before the quarter-hour mark with their very first effort of the game, as Matias Soule confidently slotted the ball past Daniele Sommariva to secure his fifth Serie A goal of the season.
Evan Ferguson came close to doubling Roma’s lead almost instantly, but it didn’t take long for things to go from bad to worse for Genoa.
With 19 minutes on the clock, the ball fell into the path of Manu Kone inside a congested box, and his deflected shot found the bottom corner for the hosts’ second of the night.
In a totally one-sided first half, Roma soon had the game all but wrapped up. Shambolic defending from the visitors gifted Soule a golden opportunity, which was palmed away by Sommariva, but to Genoa’s dismay, the quickest player to react was Ferguson, and he bundled the ball over the line to extend the hosts’ lead.
For a split second, the home crowd were celebrating a fourth goal before the break after yet more horrendous defending, but Kone’s close-range strike was ruled out due to a foul on the goalkeeper.
Roma appeared to step off the gas after half-time, resulting in a much more pedestrian affair with clear-cut chances at a premium for both sides.
While it was a poor night overall for the Rossoblu, Sommariva made one of the saves of the season to tip Bryan Cristante’s shot around the post, and the visitors also grabbed a consolation in the closing stages thanks to a heavily deflected strike from Jeff Ekhator.
Ultimately, the damage was done in the first half, and the Giallorossi strolled to three points to sign off the calendar year. This will be a particularly satisfying victory for Gasperini, as Roma’s most obvious weakness this season has been their lack of killer instinct in the final third, having netted just 17 times in their 16 prior league outings.
Meanwhile, a third successive defeat keeps Genoa just above the relegation zone in 17th position ahead of a relegation six-pointer against Pisa in their first game of 2026.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Manu Kone (Roma)
