Debut goal earns dramatic win for 10-man Samp

The new Sampdoria built by Guiseppe Iachini since January has eclipsed a record for away wins in a season for Sampdoria. With a dramatic 10-man win away to Juve Stabia, they have now taken that tally to 8 matches.  Furthermore, since the beginning of February the Genova side's record is 11 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses.  The current win streak is 4 games and it's 6 matches since their last loss, in the last minute at Crotone on the 6th of April

Depleted Line-up

However, this win was far from easy and it looked like it could have been one of those days for the Blucerchiati when Juve Stabia opened the scoring after just 21 seconds.  Samp had made the trip to Campania without last weeks hat-trick getting Nicola Pozzi and the forward ranks were further depleted as Christian Bertani was ruled out due to his involvement in the investigation of match fixing in last seasons Serie A.  Things went from bad to worse as in-form attacking star Eder was ruled out prior to kick-off with a calf strain, and worse still with returning captain Daniele Gastaldello pulling out in the warm-up with a knee injury.  As a result Iachini fielded an improvised, unproven attack with Bruno Fornaroli getting a rare start alongside Graziano Pellè, and Massimo Volta replacing the captain in central defense.

Immediately down a goal, the Doriani had to hold off more attacks from a confident Juve Stabia side in the first 15 mins before finally returning fire through Pasquale Foggia and Fornaroli.  Chances fell at either end but 1-0 was the half-time score.

Second Half

5 mins after resuming in the second half, Foggia struck a free-kick against the right corner of the woodwork and the ball rebounded out to Sampdoria's Munari.  He did well to get his head on the bouncing ball and keep it from sailing over the crossbar, instead it went floating into the open goal to open the Samp account. 15 mins later and things got complicated for Iachini as Pellè committed the second of two silly offenses, deliberately hand balling a long pass into the Stabia area and was sent off.  Sampdoria then narrowly avoided disaster after hesitant defending let two Stabia players have a strike at goal while Doria defenders looked on.  Da Costa somehow managed to make a double-save but it really should have been a 2-1 lead and good-night.

Reduced to ten-men and with his back to the wall, Iachini began to make changes, pulling off Fornaroli and inserting youngster Mauro Icardi up-front for his debut and bringing on mid-field whizkid Nenad Krsticic for goal-scorer Munari.  Then the decisive moment and one that Icardi will never forget, as Costa made a break up the left and sent a low curling cross bouncing into the area, the young Argentinian player burst from between the two Stabia defenders marking him and met the ball, placing it behind the keeper who had anticipated a strike across him.  A goal on his professional debut for the youngster who, after being let go from Barcelona's youth program for perceived attitude problems has blossomed in 2012 with 18 goals for Samp U21's and 10 in his last 3 matches.

Playoff Picture

The crucial goal and 3 points kept Samp 4 points clear of Padova, who returned to winning ways against Gubbio. The Blucerchiati still have a chance of 5th place but they remain a point behind Varese, who easily accounted for Ascoli and take their winning run to four matches as well.  With two matches to go Sampdoria need only two points for mathematical qualification to the end of season playoffs, but face two tough opponents in table-toppers Pescara at home this weekend and finally away against direct rivals Varese on the last day of the season.

Samp’s late season charge continues at Modena

Sampdoria's chances of earning one of four spots in Serie B's end of season playoff are in rude good health thanks to their recent good form.  Manager Guiseppe Iachini, a promotion specialist brought in to salvage a season that was almost completely derailed by New Years Eve, has found the combination that works and the Blucerchiati are on a rampage in the return half of the season.  They have collected the most points in the league since the half way point and Iachini's personal selection of Eder in the January transfer window, to replace the underperforming Federico Piovaccari now seems absolutely inspired, with the Brazilian putting in a sensational performance to be the difference between his side and hosts Modena on Tuesday.

First Half Chances

Modena - who had not lost a match since February - started well and it needed a timely intervention from Sampdoria's second-string goalkeeper Da Costa (playing for the injured Sergio Romero) to deny Modena's Nardini a goal in the second minute.  After that scare the Blucerchiati got their act together and created a handful of good chances - two of which were saved off the goal-line by Modena field players with their 'keeper well beaten.  Neither team could land a solid strike however and the sides went to the break with the score at 0-0.

Eder Brilliance

The second half looked to continue much as the first, with both midfields looking to put their strikers through into space, but being denied or shut down by well organized defences at both ends of the pitch.  Iachini brought on Foggia for Juan Antonio and Sampdoria's captain Daniele Gastaldello picked up a costly yellow card, before Eder lit the game up with a spectacular individual goal.   Receiving the ball from a throw in in a forward position on the right, from a standing start the striker out accelerated his marker, and continued cross-field along the line of the penalty box, beat another defender for pace and unexpectedly struck a cooly measured left into the far corner of the net - right in front of a veritable legion of Sampdoria fans who had taken advantage of the May day holiday to cross Northern Italy in support of their team.

Minutes later Nicola Pozzi failed to strike a clear chance past the goal-keeper for the second goal, but it was Eder again who saved his blushes, making light work of two Modena defenders, reaching the by-line before knocking it across the goal face to Pozzi who had the easiest of tap-ins for the 0-2.

Playoff Picture

Doria momentarily sailed into 5th spot but were later overtaken by Varese who held on to win over Nocerina. However, Padova continued their poor run of form, and have eventually succumbed to Sampdoria's insistence, relinquishing their playoff spot with a home loss against Sassuolo.  The biancorossi have another tough challenge this weekend traveling to Torino, while Sampdoria will endeavor to ram home the advantage with a win at home over Reggina.

Eder keeps the Samp train on the track

The Serie B Championship now only has 5 rounds left - and the picture is even less clear than a month ago.  At the top, Torino hold a narrow lead of 2 points over a chasing pack of 3 -  Pescara, Sassuolo and Verona - all except the Veronesi have a game in hand over the rest of the competition.  Following is a what emerging as a three way race for the two final playoff spots - one of Padova, Varese and Sampdoria is going to miss out on another chance at Serie A football next year

With the Doriani being the form team of the return leg and now Eder scoring two second half goals to beat Bari 2-0 at Marassi - the Blucerchiati fans are beginning to believe that they might just force their way back into contention. Elsewhere after the midweek boost of having three points re-instated from their first round match against Torino, Padova complicated things again by allowing Grossetto to come back from 0-2 down and share the points on the weekend.  Meanwhile Varese showed their mettle, bouncing back from last weeks defeat to win away at Cittadella.

Iachini wants no excuses against Bari – Ciampi

A whole cycle of Serie B opponents has now passed since Beppe Iachini took the reins at Sampdoria - now, one hundred and sixty days into his stewardship of the Genova club he finds himself facing Vincenzo Torrente's Bari side - against whom he began his life as a Doria manager.

"Bari is a well organized side", he explained at his Friday press conference . "They also have good individual players, who are fast, adventurous and good in one-on-ones.  The record reads that they have 9 wins away from home, which mean they have certain characteristics that only concern their play away from 'San Nicola'.   For us to win we'll need a perfect match, and we'll have to close down the spaces to shut them out."

How is Samp doing? Are the players tired?

We mustn't even think about tiredness, I'd prefer to not have so many injuries, but at the end of the day I prepare and put the best 11 players on the pitch that I can.  We're going to try and get some guys fit as soon as possible, but right now we also just have to think about Bari and not get too concerned about Modena on Tuesday night."

This weekend Sampdoria will also again encounter the direction of Roman referee Maurizio Ciampi - who has a checkered history with the Blucerchiati, including sending off Iachini in the second half of the 0-0 draw with Sassuolo at Marassi in March.

The referee in this match will be Ciampi.  Anything to add?

"I believe he is a good referee, even if in the Sassuolo match some of the decisions he made that seemed wrong were confirmed later by video.  In any case I'm sure he'll be ready, and it's just the way it goes that during this season we've been on the wrong end of some of his decisions."

Samp fuel playoff hopes with 2-0 win over Brescia

Sampdoria have bounced back from their last minute defeat in Crotone to gain 3 vital points with a strong 2-0 home win over direct playoff rivals Brescia.  The Blucerchiati are again within striking distance of 6th place as Varese could only manage a draw in Modena and Padova lost to Juve Stabia on Friday.

Samp started brightly and created two clear chances for returning center-forward Nicola Pozzi, via some strong wing play by Brazilians Eder on the right and Renan on the left. At the third occasion, after just 11 minutes, Pozzi connected with Renan's cross and beat the Brescia keeper at the near post.  Sampdoria continued to dominate and Eder went close to extending the lead shortly after.  Gradually Brescia found their equilibrium and the game became more even, but the Sampdoria defense was resolute and did not allow any real scoring opportunities to the Brescia attack.

After going to the break at 1-0, it was Samp again who started the second half in the same fashion as the first, with Pozzi just failing to connect with Eder's dangerous cross in from the right.  At thirteen minutes it was eventually Romero's turn to prove himself in the Sampdoria goal, as he showed lightning reflexes to block Mandorlini's header with his knee.  Shortly after Iachini made his first change, bringing on Foggia for Juan Antonio, who had picked up a yellow card at the end of the first half.  Brescia again threatened, but had a goal to Jonathas disallowed for offside.  Then, as is so often the case in football, the goal arrived at the other end, at the moment when Brescia was strongest. Again, it was Eder who was the provider, with the Iachini's substitution proving the right one as Foggia found the net with a good strike.

From there on it was formalities only, with the only notable occasion being the tough reception when Federico Piovaccari made his return to the Marassi pitch- this time as a Rondinelle.  The player, who was last year's leading scorer in Serie B did not live up to the expectations when he made the move to Genova at the start of the season, and was whistled and booed at every chance by the Doria faithful.

Samp are closing the season strongly and with this victory overtook Brescia not just on the table, but also as the team with the most points in the second half of the season. They will look to continue their good form away to Vicenza next week.

Setback for Sampdoria who fall in the final second at Crotone

Mirko Eramo, a loaned out Sampdoria player, from the Championship winning Sampdoria Primavera squad dealt a cruel blow by scoring the only goal of the game in the last second on Friday night in Crotone.  The loss was compounded by wins for all their rivals in the playoff race. Sampdoria come to a halt after a string of useful results, and lose the ground they had made up to now sit again 4 points adrift of 6th place.

The match didn't start well for the Blucerchiati with star goalkeeper Romero having to pull-out with a finger injury.  His place was taken by Da Costa, who was certainly the busier of the two goalies during the match.  Samp lacked the decisiveness of the past fortnight and again showed a worrying disposition in the back-line to pick up yellow cards.  This was brought to bear when Berardi was sent off for his second offense in the 64th minute, constraining Doria to fight for another 0-0.  Nicola Pozzi made a positive comeback in the 75th minute replacing Graziano Pellè who was unable to continue his scoring run, but it was not enough to change the reality, which was that Samp was holding on grimly for the draw.

This is was not to be as in the very last action of the match, Eramo placed a perfect header in the top right corner of the net to send the home fans into absolute delirium and to leave Sampdoria crestfallen in defeat.  Crotone moved to 40 points and look very safe in the middle of the table, while Samp have stopped at 51, and face a tough challenge at home next week against Brescia.