Genoa 2-0 Catania

Genoa jumped above Sampdoria in the Serie A table thanks to a routine win over 10-man Catania at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

The home side struggled to get into the game until Giuseppe Bellusci was sent off for the visitors in the 28th minute.

Genoa went ahead through Giandomenico Mesto in the 36th minute with Giuseppe Sculli sealing their win in the 71st minute before Catania coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was also sent to the stands.

There were only nine seconds on the clock when Catania's Cristian Llama volleyed over the crossbar from 18 yards after latching on to a long ball forward.

However, it was not a sign of things to come as both sides delivered below-par performances.

Genoa appeared nervous after their 5-2 defeat to AC Milan in midweek and nobody was confident enough to take the initiative.

Catania, on the other hand, played with organisation, albeit without regularly finding a telling pass to any of their three strikers Giuseppe Mascara, Jorge Martinez and Mariano Izco.

The Sicilians were actually looking the better team up until Bellusci brought an end to Genoa's first serious attack and a premature conclusion to his own game in the 28th minute.

He stopped David Suazo in his tracks after the Honduras international bamboozled him with a neat touch from Rodrigo Palacio's through ball to sprint in the direction of Mariano Andujar's goal.

A straight red card could have been justified for denying a clear opportunity of scoring, but since he had already been booked, a second yellow card amounted to the same punishment with Catania left to play over an hour with 10 men.

Captain Mascara was sacrificed as Mihajlovic sent Christian Terlizzi, a defender, on.

Five minutes later, Genoa took advantage of their extra man to go ahead.

Domenico Criscito lifted a cross from the left wing into the six-yard box where Mesto was unmarked to head the Rossoblu in front from close range.

The home side had a second goal ruled out before the interval when Suazo used his pace and skill to cut past Izco and get in a shot which was blocked by Sculli in an offside position, rendering the subsequent strike into an empty net by Palacio invalid.

Mesto and Sculli combined early in the second half with the latter getting in a harmless header from the former's cross.

The same combination worked to better effect in the 71st minute when Sculli this time made no mistake with a header past Andujar from eight yards to double Genoa's advantage.

Mihajlovic was ordered to leave his bench five minutes from time after he protested with the fourth official and, while he might be happy to have seen the back of Genoa today, he has to come back to the same venue on Wednesday as the sides meet again in the Coppa Italia.