Parma beat Genoa 2-1 at the Stadio Ennio Tardini on Sunday, and the margin came from a substitutes' combination: Pontus Almqvist, introduced at 56', finishing off an assist from Nesta Elphege — also a second-half replacement — to settle a match that had briefly slipped from Parma's grasp.

The opener arrived in the 38th minute, Parma forward David Romero converting a pass from El Bilal Touré to give the hosts the lead they had worked for. It was a goal that reflected something of a siege mentality: Parma coach Carlos Cuesta García's side had not won in their previous four Serie A matches, collecting a single point from a draw against Monza and conceding six times in the process. A lead at the Tardini, however slender, was not something to be squandered lightly.

Both Romero and Touré were withdrawn at the 56th minute — an unusual double change that removed the two players directly involved in the goal — and Genoa exploited the disruption. At 70', Milutin Osmajić, the Genoa forward, levelled with a goal assisted by Lorenzo Colombo, who had himself come on as a substitute at 69'. Daniele De Rossi's side had equalised through a move built almost entirely from the bench, and for ten minutes the Tardini held its breath.

Almqvist answered at 80'. The Parma winger, on for Touré since the 56th minute, converted an assist from Elphege — the same Elphege who had replaced Romero — to restore the lead and, as it turned out, decide the match. That two substitutes combined for the winner, with Elphege assisting the man who came on in the same double change, gives the goal a particular texture: Cuesta García's intervention, which had initially seemed to cost Parma their momentum, ultimately produced it.

Genoa's evening illustrated the limits of a side that had taken one point from their previous three Serie A matches before arriving in Parma. De Rossi's team showed enough to equalise — Colombo's immediate impact after coming on at 69' was the sharpest moment of Genoa's second half — but the defensive structure did not hold. Conceding to a substitute ten minutes after drawing level, with the match there to be managed, is the kind of detail that defines a difficult early season.

Parma came into this fixture having collected one point from their last five matches across all competitions, with four defeats in that span. The win moves them to four points from their last five, a modest improvement but their first victory of the campaign. Genoa's numbers across the same window are unchanged: one win, one draw, three defeats from their last five in all competitions, with their Serie A form — no wins, one draw, three defeats from their last four — remaining unbroken.

A month from now, this match will be remembered as the afternoon two substitutes rescued a club that had forgotten what winning felt like.