It was not a night of avalanches at the Olimpico, but Lazio did not need one. A single moment of clean, decisive quality settled matters against Genoa, and Davide Frattesi supplied it. His left-footed finish from the middle of the box, drilled straight and true into the centre of the goal, was the difference between two teams already travelling in opposite directions before the end of August.

There is a certain calm authority in winning matches like this — narrow, controlled, professional — and Lazio wore it well. Two games played, two victories banked, two clean sheets kept, and not a single goal conceded across the opening fortnight of the season. For a side beginning to believe in its own rhythm, a 1-0 win can feel every bit as satisfying as a rout.

For Genoa the picture could hardly be starker. Two matches gone, two defeats absorbed, three goals shipped and not one scored in reply. They arrived in Rome already under pressure and left it heavier still, marooned in 16th place and yet to register a point. The margin here was slim, but the story of their start is not.

The decisive moment

The goal arrived on 25 minutes, and it carried the stamp of a team that knows what it is doing. Nuno Tavares, marauding down the left as he so often threatens to, delivered the pass that mattered, laying the ball into the path of Frattesi in the heart of the penalty area.

Frattesi did the rest with the composure of a man who had rehearsed the finish a hundred times. There was no wild swing, no snatch at the chance — just a measured left-footed strike planted through the centre of the goal, giving Genoa's defence no time to recover and their goalkeeper little chance of intervention.

It was the sort of finish that defines tight fixtures. One flash of understanding between two players, one clinical touch, and the balance of the afternoon tilted for good. From that point Lazio had a lead to protect, and they set about the task with the discipline that has marked their opening weeks.

Lazio in control

A lead of a single goal can be an uneasy thing to carry, but Lazio managed it without ever appearing rattled. Their defensive record tells the tale of a side that has learned to guard what it has. Two matches, no goals conceded — the foundation on which their perfect start has been built.

The absence of a second goal did nothing to dampen the sense of a job efficiently done. Genoa were kept at arm's length, denied the clear openings that might have hauled them level, and made to feel every minute of chasing the game. Lazio's shape held, their concentration did not fray, and the clean sheet was preserved to the final whistle.

Sitting fourth on six points, level in achievement with the early pacesetters, Lazio have given themselves the kind of platform that breeds confidence. Winning while playing within yourself is a habit worth cultivating, and on this evidence it is one they are quietly perfecting.

Genoa's grim beginning

For Genoa, the numbers make for sobering reading. Zero points, zero goals scored, three conceded across their first two outings, and a place in 16th that flatters nobody. This was not a performance shorn of effort, but effort alone does not lift teams off the bottom rungs of the table.

The concern for Genoa is not merely that they lost, but the manner in which their season has taken shape. They have yet to find the net, yet to trouble the scoreboard operators, and that failing was exposed again here. Chances went begging or never truly arrived, and against a side as economical as Lazio, one goal was always likely to be enough.

There is time, of course, to correct the course — the campaign is barely underway — but early habits harden fast. Genoa need a spark, a goal, a result to cling to, and until they find one the pressure will only mount. A trip to the Olimpico was never the likeliest place to break the drought, but the search now grows more urgent.

What comes next

Lazio depart this contest with their standards intact and their momentum building. A young season is no place to draw firm conclusions, but back-to-back wins without conceding is precisely the sort of opening that turns cautious optimism into genuine belief. The challenge now is to sustain it as the fixtures accumulate and the opposition stiffens.

Frattesi, the match-winner, will take particular satisfaction from his contribution, and Nuno Tavares deserves his share of the credit for the assist that unlocked the afternoon. Between them they provided the single piece of decisive football that a game this tight demanded, and Lazio were duly rewarded.

Genoa, meanwhile, must regroup and confront the uncomfortable arithmetic of their start. Two defeats, no goals, no points — the season is asking hard questions and they have yet to answer any of them. The response, when it comes, cannot come soon enough for a club already staring at the wrong end of the table.