Late penalty drama denies Vieira winning start at Genoa

Patrick Vieira was denied a winning start as Genoa manager on Sunday after a late penalty gave fellow Serie A struggles Cagliari a 2-2 away draw.

Roberto Piccoli lashed home his spot-kick two minutes from the end after being fouled by Aaron Martin, snatching a point for Cagliari with his team’s second penalty of the game.

Vieira, who replaced sacked Alberto Gilardino on Wednesday, was heading for a debut win at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris after goals in each half from Morten Frendrup and Fabio Miretti which put Genoa ahead in the 59th minute after following Razvan Marin’s early penalty for the away team.

The draw leaves Genoa in 16th, level with Cagliari and two points above Lecce who are just inside the relegation zone and take on bottom side Venezia on Monday.

Later Napoli can reclaim their league lead when they host Roma, who are playing for the first time since Claudio Ranieri’s return to the capital club earlier this month.

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