Genoa beat visiting Sudtirol 1-0 in the Coppa Italia at the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, and the margin came from a single moment of late invention: a Johan Vásquez header — or finish, the data does not specify the method — assisted by Genoa defender David Puczka in the 87th minute, when the match had looked destined for extra time.
For eighty-six minutes, Daniele De Rossi's Genoa and Davide Possanzini's Sudtirol produced a contest that generated no goals and, from the event log, no cautions on either side. The first hour belonged to the starting elevens, with Genoa's midfield-heavy shape — Mario Mitaj, Amorim, Tommaso Baldanzi, Franz-Ethan Meichtry, and Cody Drameh all named in central or wide-midfield roles — providing the structural frame. Then, at 61', De Rossi moved decisively: Lorenzo Colombo replaced Mitaj, and Stephan El Shaarawy came on for Drameh. Seven minutes later, Junior Messias entered for Baldanzi. The three changes in quick succession reshaped Genoa's attacking options without immediately unlocking Sudtirol's defence.
The decisive substitution came at 80', when Vásquez replaced Genoa defender Sebastian Otoa. Seven minutes later, Vásquez — a defender by trade — converted Puczka's assist to score what became the only goal of the match. It is the kind of outcome that defines cup football: a centre-back, on the pitch for less than ten minutes, settling a contest that the recognised forwards could not. Puczka's role as creator is equally worth noting; the defender had operated quietly through the ninety minutes before producing the assist that mattered.
Sudtirol's evening was shaped by the same scoreless stalemate, but the visiting side's substitutions — five in total, beginning with Giacomo Stabile replacing Andrea Giorgini at 45', and continuing through Kevin Zeroli, Alvin Obinna Okoro, Salvatore Molina, and Bjarki Bjarkason — could not manufacture the breakthrough they needed. With only one completed match on record in the current data window, there is limited context for Possanzini's side, but the bare fact is that they created nothing that registered in the event log and conceded to a substitute defender in the final ten minutes. The regret is theirs: a clean defensive record through 86 minutes undone by a single lapse in concentration at the back post.
The form context around this result is instructive for Genoa. Coming into the fixture, De Rossi's side had collected one point from their last three matches across all competitions — a draw against Frosinone following defeats to Lazio and Como in Serie A. The five-match window told a similarly uncomfortable story. This Coppa Italia win does not erase those league difficulties, but it arrests the slide within the cup and gives the squad a result to carry into the week. The three-match form window now reads one win, one draw, one defeat — a modest improvement in shape, even if the underlying Serie A picture remains the more pressing concern.
A cup tie settled by a defender in the 87th minute, with Puczka providing the assist: Genoa advance, and De Rossi will know his side earned it the hard way.