A second half strike from Manolo Gabbiadini was enough to give Sampdoria a 1-0 victory over Genoa in a heated Derby della Lanterna on Sunday night in Serie A action.
Doria were coming into the game bidding to leapfrog Udinese and move into third place in the Serie A standings and they duly did so, maintaing their unbeaten start to the season and rising to third thanks to Gabbiadini’s late goal.
In truth, it was a game that never hit the heights that could be expected and was a match littered with persistent and frustrating fouls, with 45 registered in total by the close of play across both sides, averaging a foul every two minutes.
The Stadio Ferraris pitch also caused problems throughout in a game that saw very few clearcut chances created, Mauricio Pinilla heading tamely into Emiliano Viviano’s arms and Mattia Perin snuffing out Stefano Okaka in the first half.
A wonderful Gabbiadini free kick, a taster of what was to come, whipped low dangerously into the box almost saw Pinilla turn the ball into his own net.
Shooting into their own fans in the second half, the Grifoni almost hit the front when Diego Perotti took down a delightful diagonal from Juraj Kucka and fizzed a shot just past the post.
It was no real surprise that the eventual winner did arrive courtesy of a set piece with 15 minutes remaining as Sampdoria made it two consecutive 1-0 derby wins following Maxi Lopez’s winner in this fixture last season.
Gabbiadini drifted the ball in with that luscious left foot of his from the right hand side and it drifted over everyone, including a static Genoa defence, and into the far corner of the net to lift the visitors into third spot.
