PA Media/DPA
London
Inter Milan were denied a winning start to their Serie A title defence after Genoa’s Junior Messias scored an added-time penalty in a dramatic 2-2 draw on Saturday.
Alessandro Vogliacco opened the scoring for the home side midway through the first half before Marcus Thuram hauled the champions back on level terms 10 minutes later.
Thuram looked to have won it for Simone Inzaghi’s side with his second goal of the evening, only for Genoa to have the final word when Messias converted from the spot in the fifth minute of added time.
After romping to their 20th championship, following a crushing campaign which saw them finish with a 19-point margin to runners-up AC Milan, Inter are bidding to become the first Serie A club since Juventus in 2020 to retain the tile.
Lautaro Martinez, fresh from renewing his contract until 2029, led Inter’s line but it was Thuram who landed the first chance of the match when his low shot was superbly parried away by Genoa goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini with seven minutes gone.
Inter were in control of the game but the home side took the lead against the run of play when Mattia Bani’s header bounced off the bar and defender Vogliacco prodded home from close range with 20 minutes gone.
However, Genoa’s lead lasted just 10 minutes. Thuram headed Nicolo Barella’s cross into the bottom corner to land his first of the evening, and the France forward looked as though he had earned a penalty moments later, following a late tackle by Milan Badelj, only for the decision to be overturned by VAR.
Seven minutes into the second half, Inter had another goal disallowed, this time for offside, after Federico Dimarco struck from close range. And on the hour mark, Thuram was denied again by an outstretched Gollini leg.
But with eight minutes remaining the Genoa stopper could not prevent Thuram from adding his second when he raced on to Davide Frattesi’s through-ball before clipping it into the net. The offside flag immediately went up but a VAR check allowed the goal to stand.
VAR showed Yann Bisseck handled the ball in the area, and although Messias saw his spot-kick saved by Yann Sommer, the former AC Milan player made no mistake from the rebound to net the equaliser.
