Henrikh Mkhitaryan was the hero of the hour, as he scored a hat-trick to fire Roma to a 3-1 win over Genoa on Sunday afternoon.
The Giallorossi moved up to third in the fledgling Serie A standings thanks to victory at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, on a day when they were without Edin Dzeko.
But in the absence of the No. 9 it was Mkhitaryan who certainly stepped up to the plate – scoring the first Giallorossi hat-trick in just over four years to deliver the win.
His first came on the stroke of half-time, the Armenian putting Paulo Fonseca’s side ahead with a well-timed header from Jordan Veretout’s corner.
Genoa then equalised – through Marko Pjaca – early in the second half, as the game threatened to turn into something of a slog for the visitors.
Instead, Mkhitaryan redoubled his efforts: first running on to Bruno Peres’s cutback into the box to steer his side back in front, before clinching the result in the closing stages with a pinpoint volley from Pedro’s brilliantly measured cross.
With the international break now to come, Roma head into a two-week break with three wins in the last eight days.
