Udinese 2-0 Sampdoria
Feb/110
The Goal Drought Continues For Sampdoria.
Sampdoria drop to 13th in Serie A, for now, with a 0-2 defeat to Udinese at the Stadio Friuli.
The Zebrette broke the deadlock early on when Alexis Sanchez headed home inside the box following Antonio Di Natale’s well placed free kick. The pair combined again shortly before the break as Sanchez returned the favour with a well placed through ball and Di Natale slotted home for his 100th Serie A goal in Udinese colours.
After the break the visitors put in an improved performance but were unable to turn things around as the Zebrette controlled their two goal advantage. The victory lifted Udinese up to fifth taking their unbeaten run to seven games in Serie A. Sampdoria went home with a lot to think about as they continue to edge towards the relegation zone.
The game started brightly and it was the home side who imposed themselves as they attacked from the off looking to break the deadlock.
Udinese found the opener on 17 minutes when Antonio Di Natale whipped a free kick in from the left for fellow partner in crime Sanchez to head home inside the box. The goal had been coming and the Zebrette were worth the lead for their positive approach to the game.
Shortly before the break Udinese doubled their lead as Sanchez repaid his strike partner with a splendid assist down the middle. Di Natale duly obliged and slotted home delicately to net his 100th Serie A goal with the Friuli outfit.
Sampdoria’s best scoring chance came on 52 minutes when Reto Ziegler whipped a wonderful ball over the wall to force Emanuele Belardi into an acrobatic save. The effort deserved a goal but the Udinese stopper proved in no mood to concede his clean sheet.
The chance spurred the visitors on and Mimmo Di Carlo’s side continued to get men forward in a bid to turn things around following their sub-standard first half performance.
As the clock ticked down the visitors continued to press but the result inevitably started to look beyond them.
The win lifted Francesco Guidolin’s side to within a point of fourth and underlined their fine vein of form.
Sampdoria suffered their third consecutive league defeat and are alarmingly heading closer to the drop zone at the business end of the season.
SampCelt89
Sampdoria 2-2 Udinese (AET, 5-4 Pens)
Jan/110
Blucerchiati Squeeze Through To Coppa Italia Quarter-Finals.
Sampdoria reached the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia after defeating Udinese 5-4 on penalties at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Wednesday evening in a pulsating encounter.
Giampaolo Pazzini turned out to Samp’s saviour in this Round of 16 tie as he scored from the spot in extra-time to make it 2-2 and then rolled home what turned out to be the winning penalty in the shoot-out as Mauricio Isla failed to convert his.
Federico Macheda scored his first goal for the hosts in the first-half but it was cancelled out by Mauricio Isla in the 90th minute.
German Denis then gave Udinese an early lead in extra-time and despite the hosts going down to ten men after Daniele Dessena was sent off, Pazzini successfully converted his spot-kick to take a topsy-turvy match into penalties.
Sampdoria were by far the better side in the opening quarter of an hour as they created two good chances. The first one was crafted as early as the fifth minute when Daniele Mannini whipped in a cross for Pazzini but the Italy international striker couldn’t direct his header into the net.
Ten minutes later the hosts once again conjured up a chance when Mannini put in a low cross from the right but neither Pazzini nor Macheda could reach it.
Udinese were put firmly on the backfoot and struggled to launch an attack of their own. The Bianconeri were put under danger again midway through the first-half when once more Mannini delivered a wonderful cross from the right, but Pazzini’s volley went over the crossbar.
Moments later Macheda tried his luck with a shot from outside the Udinese penalty area and before long the 19-year-old Italian on loan from Manchester United swooped in on a Stefano Guberti cross and forced goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi into making a save.
Macheda eventually found the target on 32 minutes when his shot deceived Belardi, slipping under the crossbar, giving Samp a 1-0 lead at the break.
Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin brought on Alexis Sanchez for Antonio Di Natale in order to shake things up a bit in the attacking department and ten minutes later the 22-year-old created a chance for Almen Abdi.
Samp continued to look for a second goal as Angelo Palombo went close and so did Pazzini in the closing stages, but in the 90th minute Isla equalised for Udinese to take the game into extra-time.
Two minutes into the extra frame the Zebrette went ahead for the first time through Denis as the Argentine turned in a corner. Mannini and Guberti then forced Belardi into making saves before Sampdoria went down to ten men as midfielder Dessena was sent off.
However, Pazzini successfully converted a 109th minute penalty that was won by Andrea Poli to make it 2-2 and take the match into penalties, where Pazzini struck his side’s fifth before Isla failed to covert his spot kick, meaning that Sampdoria go through to the last-eight.
SampCelt89
Udinese 2 v 3 Sampdoria
Jan/100
Sampdoria Start Their Revival In Udine.
Sampdoria fought back twice to defeat Udinese at the Stadio Friuli despite coach Luigi Del Neri dropping Antonio Cassano for the game.
Match Action: 1st Half
Udinese by far had the best of the first half chances with Antonio Di Natale chipping the ball over the Sampdoria defence for Alexis Sanchez to spring the offside trap, but the young Chilean lost his footing.
Moments later Di Natale sprinted into the box and was brought down by a careless Cacciatore challenge, as Di Natale beautifully dinked the ball past the Samp defender, only to be brought down. Di Natale converted the penalty sending Marco Storari the wrong way for his 13th goal of the season.
It was nearly 2-0 less than a minute later as Sanchez dribbled past two Sampdoria defenders but his pull-back intended for Di Natale was intercepted by Cacciatore.
Gokhan Inler made a good run down the right flank pulled the ball back for Di Natale to fire a stinging shot at Marco Storari’s palms.
Sampdoria against the run of play where then awarded a penalty as Simone Pepe clumsily tripped Nicola Pozzi. Giampaolo Pazzini converted the penalty, which hit the inside of the upright to ricochet in and draw Sampdoria level.
The Blucherciati nearly took the lead when Semioli’s header from quality Ziegler cross caused Handanovic to punch the ball away, very nearly right into the path of Pazzini.
Udinese restored their advantage just before half time with Mauricio Isla’s first ever Serie A goal. He controlled a Aleksandr Lukovic through ball in the D and chipped the ball over a helpless Storari. It was a goal of real quality.
Match Action: 2nd Half
Sampdoria showed great character in the second half and equalized after a misplaced Pazzini shot found the head of Pozzi who forced a good save from Handanovic, but the goalkeeper could do nothing with the rebound which Pozzi converted.
Incredibly and wonderfully for Blucerchiati supporters Sampdoria made it 3-2 with substitute Fernando Tissone’s through ball allowed Semioli to spring the offside trap down the left flank, control the ball and thump an angled drive into the corner.
Udinese’s Alexis Sanchez was livid when he was booked for diving after clashing with Gastaldello in the penalty area. Antonio Floro Flores pounced on a poor Luciano Zauri backpass, but Storari rushed out to clear off his feet. Sampdoria nearly made it four with Tissone again cutting open the Udinese defence with a lethal through ball for Pazzini who fired straight at Handanovic.
The win moves Sampdoria up to tenth, but leaves Udinese only one point above the dreaded relegation zone.
Di Natale pen 7 (U), Pazzini pen 27 (S), Isla 44 (U), Pozzi 57 (S), Semioli 66 (S)
phil_c64
Preview: Udinese v Sampdoria
Jan/100
Udinese v Sampdoria
Sunday 24th January 2010
Friuli, Udine
Udinese (15th)
Like Samp, Udinese have frozen this Winter having won only once in the league since October. Giovanni De Biasi has been in charge for a month but seems to have had little impact, having only managed one coppa Italia victory. And everyone knows they don’t count.
Last time out Udinese picked up what looks like a solid point away to Parma. However Udinese were quite fortunate to find themselves playing against ten men for a large proportion of the game. And despite Parma being ham-pered by this ham-dicap, they still had chances to win including a missed penalty.
At home Udinese’s last fixture saw points shared with what at the time looked an improving Lazio side. Preceding this Udinese slumped to three straight away defeats to mostly poor opposition.
Udinese are a typical mid-table Italian side, picking up enough points at home to avoid slipping into the relegation battle, while ritually losing and drawing away from home. But having played four of their last five games away from home, Udinese’s recent form may be a little skewed. They will be glad to get back to the Friuli where they have only lost twice this season.
As of Thursday morning, Udinese appear to have no new injury or suspension concerns coming into this game. Gokhan Inler returns to the fold in midfield.
Sampdoria (13th)
Sampdoria’s decline from the heady heights of the beginning of the season has been dramatic. One win in twelve, with seven defeats, leaves Samp suddenly looking nervously down the table rather than optimistically up.
What has happened to Sampdoria? At the start of the season they were top and had beaten Inter. Now they are 13th and dropping quicker than Cristiano Ronaldo under a slightly heavy challenge. The truth of how good Samp really are is probably somewhere in between the two extremes, but there is no doubt their current run of results is relegation form.
Last time out Sampdoria slumped to a desperately disappointing home draw with unfancied Catania, having gone behind early to a Llama free kick. This certainly gave the Marassi faithful the hump and they made their feelings known at the end of the game. Astonishing reports that Pazzini and Mannini were attacked by unhappy Doria fans after the match indicates exactly how bad things have got. Rumours that Mannini tried to fight back but couldn’t beat the first man are unsubstantiated.
Morale in the camp has got to be rock bottom, and a tough looking trip to provincial Udine is not favourable for any team this low on confidence.
Sampdoria’s away form has been desperate this season, particularly so in recent games with six straight away defeats. On current form, if Sampdoria played against themselves outside of Marassi, both teams would lose.
Nevertheless, there were promising debuts for on-loan pair Marco Storari in goal and Stefano Guberti in midfield in the Catania game, and despite the poor results Sampdoria haven’t been on the end of any big defeats. Yet.
Antonio Cassano is reported as being doubtful for the game with a ‘minor’ injury. Samp can ill afford to be without him and may press him into service in spite of the injury. If he does miss out, this is a serious blow.
Opposition dangerman
Antonio Di Natale. Despite his 5 foot 7 inches, the 32 year old skilful forward and captain hasnt come up short this season with 12 goals to his name.
Head to head
Udinese have the advantage at home with three wins, two draws and one defeat in the last six years. Sampdoria haven’t won in Udine since 2004. Last seasons this fixture finished 1-1, almost exactly 12 months ago and with both teams in similar runs of form.
Prediction
Two teams who can’t win face each other here, and therefore it is logical that a draw wouldn’t be the most surprising result, especially in view of last seasons draw in similar circumstances.
However, home advantage and comparative home/away form should not be ignored and on both these counts Udinese have the clear advantage. If Cassano is out for Samp, this strengthens the case for a home win and more misery for Sampdoria fans.
Udinese to win
MUG_OUFC
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