Marcus Thuram’s two goals were not enough for Inter Milan to start their title defense with a win, as a late penalty allowed Genoa to draw 2-2 in their Serie A opener on Saturday.
Thuram had an impressive first season in Italy with 15 goals and 14 assists across all competitions, and he scored once in each half in Genoa to give Inter the lead after Alessandro Vogliacco’s unexpected opening goal.
However, Genoa was awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time, and Junior Messias scored from the rebound after Yann Sommer saved his initial penalty kick.
It was a rare Serie A match where both coaches were also in charge last season. AC Milan is one of 14 teams with a new coach in the league, and Paulo Fonseca’s first game in charge saw his team score two very late goals to earn a 2-2 draw at home against Torino.
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter won the Serie A title last season and looked strong from the start in Genoa, with both Thuram and Hakan Çalhanoğlu having early opportunities.
But it was Genoa that took the lead in the 20th minute. Coach Alberto Gilardino had to rebuild after losing his two main scorers, Mateo Retegui and Albert Gudmundsson, and the goal came from an unexpected source.
A free kick was headed toward the goal, and Sommer seemed to have it under control but fumbled it onto the bar as he jumped backwards. Vogliacco was quickest to react to the rebound and poked it into the net.
This was Vogliacco’s first goal in more than 140 senior matches.
Thuram equalized 10 minutes later by heading Nicolò Barella’s cross from the right into the bottom corner.
Inter was awarded a penalty shortly afterward, but the referee overturned the decision after reviewing it on the pitchside monitor. Genoa captain Milan Badelj had touched the ball first and was kicked by Thuram, not the other way around.
