Sampdoria overcame Torino 2-0 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris early on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
After Manolo Gabbiadini had fired home a free kick late in the first half, Stefano Okaka added a brilliant solo goal to seal the Blucerchiati’s first win of the 2014/15 campaign.
In what was a quiet start to the match, both sides seemed over-eager to impress, regularly committing needless fouls and giving away possession with unnecessarily ambitious passing.
While Sampdoria slowly began to take control of the match following a cagey opening period, chances remained at a premium as they struggled to find any kind of cutting edge in front of goal.
Torino, meanwhile, seemed more than happy to soak up any pressure that came their way and looked largely comfortable when dealing with the regular stream of Blucerchiati balls played into their penalty area.
As the half wore on, il Toro even began to grow into the game slightly but found clear-cut opportunities just as hard to come by as their opponents, with a speculative Giuseppe Vives strike from 25 yards representing their most promising chance.
With both sides relying on hopeful balls into the box, it looked increasingly likely that it would require either a set-piece or a moment of individual brilliance to break the deadlock and the opening goal involved a bit of both.
On 34 minutes, the impressive Gabbiadini lined up a freekick on the edge of the box before duly firing a precise, low strike into the unguarded side of Daniele Padelli’s goal – taking full advantage of what was the only real chance of note in the first half.
As the teams re-emerged for the second half, the flow of the game remained largely unchanged as both teams continued to struggle to find any cutting edge in front of goal.
And, with frustration at the lack of attacking bite on display becoming more apparent, both sides began to try their luck from range.
Fabio Quagliarella hit a wild effort over the bar on 57 minutes before Gabbiadini fired narrowly off target two minutes later with a hopeful, curling effort from 25 yards.
While Torino looked to remedy their own attacking struggles with the introduction of Amauri on 61 minutes, their decision to push forward a little more meant that the home side looked increasingly dangerous on the break.
Alarm bells sounded on 64 minutes when Gabbiadini lined up another inviting free kick from the edge of the box after a speedy break was unceremoniously halted by Vives.
This time, however, the away side were spared as 22-year-old could only find the crossbar with a delightful, swirling effort.
Then, in the 79th minute, Okaka produced a piece of pure magic to seal the result. Having beaten two defenders on the right wing, the 25-year-old rounded Kamil Glik to burst into the box and fire a low strike across goal that gave Padelli no chance.
With the game now beyond reach, Torino showed little signs of even grabbing a consolation strike and the home side eventually ran out comfortable winners.
