Serie A | Genoa 1-1 Empoli: Silvestri howler ruins perfect week | OneFootball

Empoli were left with bitter regret at Marassi after fumbling the Alberto Grassi lead with Marco Silvestri’s late howler to gift Genoa a point.

The Grifone were hovering mid-table and injuries continued to pile up with Morten Thorsby, Vitinha, Honest Ahanor, Lior Kassa and Mario Balotelli ruled out. Empoli were deeply unpredictable, managing two points from the last nine Serie A rounds and stuck in the bottom three, yet also eliminating Juventus on penalties midweek to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals. Their lengthy absentee list included Ardian Ismajli, Jacopo Fazzini, Tino Anjorin, Mattia Viti, Ola Solbakken, Saba Sazonov, Nicolas Haas, Szymon Zurkowski and Pietro Pellegri.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Emanuel Gyasi just failed to get the decisive touch on a Giuseppe Pezzella cross from the left, turning over from a promising position.

Empoli took the lead and ended their goal drought after more than 400 minutes of Serie A football, as a corner was flicked on, Alberto Grassi took a touch inside the area and drilled through a sea of legs.

The Tuscans risked a second after the restart, Nicola Leali almost gifting it to Christian Kouame on a back-pass, but Genoa lost captain Mattia Bani to a suspected hamstring strain.

GENOA, ITALY – MARCH 2: Lorenzo Colombo of Empoli (left) and Koni De Winter of Genoa vie for the ball during the Serie A match between Genoa and Empoli at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on March 2, 2025 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images)

Sebastiano Esposito thought he had to double Empoli’s lead on a tap-in, only to be denied by a desperate Johan Vasquez block.

Maxwel Cornet wasted the first genuine scoring opportunity for the hosts on 76 minutes, ballooning over the bar from 10 yards on a Morten Frendrup assist.

Incredibly, Genoa did equalise with a huge stroke of luck, because Vasquez scuffed the volley on a corner and it took a slight deflection to loop up, with Marco Silvestri comically fumbling the ball under the crossbar.

Grassi 35 (E), Vasquez 81 (G)