Genoa coach Ivan Juric says Pietro Pellegri deserved his chance in defeat to Lazio.

The 16 year-old striker scored both goals in defeat to Lazio.

There's a close bond at Genoa, because Pellegri's father Marco was hired as the team manager in May and was on the bench in tears tonight.

Juric stated: “We're working a lot with Pellegri, he played like a real centre-forward tonight. It's a great story, his father is my very close friend and now his son is doing so well in this team.

“We are missing a lot of players, it's true, but we'll try to get them back as soon as possible. We're unlucky too. Nicolas Spolli had his first game in a long, long time, Ervin Zukanovic had been out for ages too, so they're all a little rusty.

“It's a shame, we had such a great attitude in the second half, but made far too many mistakes, even really basic ones."