Sampdoria drew 0-0 with Roma on Saturday night at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Serie A.
It was a match in which defences dominated the proceedings yet Samp striker Stefano Okaka could have won it for the home side if he did not squander his chance from in front of goal.
Defences were on top in the first half and the attackers found little space to do any work. Although both teams received some corners, the organisation of both defences meant that most chances were either cleared or blocked.
Roma winger Gervinho had the two best chances of the first half to break the deadlock.
The first opportunity came after he ran onto a Davide Astori long pass, and after Daniele Gastaldello blocked the initial shot, the Ivorian international dribbled past Samp goalkeeper Sergio Romero and he hit the post from a very tight angle. His second opportunity arrived when he pounced on a loose ball but his left-foot shot flashed across goal.
When the second half commenced, it looked like Gervinho was going to win the game by himself. He had an angled right-foot shot saved by Romero, another shot of his was blocked and his cross-shot from the right hit the side-netting.
Manolo Gabbadini thought he had put Doria ahead after running onto Vasco Regini’s through-ball in the 52nd minute but his goal was correctly ruled offside. Then Roma forward Adem Ljajic had a left-foot shot that went straight into Romero’s arms.
Samp midfielder Roberto Soriano dribbled through the Roma defence although Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa dispossessed him, Pedro Obiang fired a shot off target after pouncing on the loose ball.
Okaka had a golden opportunity to put the Doriani ahead on 70 minutes but he ended-up providing one of the misses of the season. Gabbiadini’s free-kick found the ex-Roma striker at the far post but he blasted the ball over the bar with the goal right in front of him.
Alessandro Florenzi had a chance to put Roma ahead with less than 10 minutes remaining but his header resulted in a Romero save from point-blank range.
Sampdoria won a corner in stoppage time but Lorenzo De Silvstri failed to get a good connection with his head.
