Sampdoria and Udinese drew 2-2 on Sunday afternoon in Serie A, at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Pedro Obiang opened the scoring early on, after volleying home from some suspect goalkeeping. Forgotten man Alexandre Geijo scored his debut Serie A goal for the away side when he smartly flicked a shot past Sergio Romero, before Danilo powered home a header to complete a quick turnaround. Manolo Gabbiadini’s deft header in the second half ensured that each side would have a point to show for this match.
The draw means that the Blucerchiati have preserved their record of losing just once this season, in 16 league outings. Meanwhile, Udinese now have just one win under their belt from the last eight Serie A fixtures.
Sampdoria grabbed the lead quickly, with the opener coming through Obiang after just 15 minutes. Away goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis could only punch tamely away from a cross, and after getting a touch Obiang waited patiently for the ball to drop to volley into the unguarded net.
Despite the goal, the game was actually very slow to burn. Obiang’s strike represented the only shot on target in the first 30 minutes of the match, as a midfield battle commenced, with both defences enjoying a spell of resilience.
The lively Panagiotis Kone did come close to an equaliser, but drilled a thunderous first-time effort just inches past the upright.
However, when the next shot on target did finally come, the scores were levelled at 1-1. Geijo was the man at the heart of the action for the Zebrette, flicking home off the outside of his boot from close range. Incredibly, the goal was the 32-year-old striker’s first for Udinese, despite being at the club for over four years. The Spaniard played over 100 times elsewhere over three different loan spells.
Three minutes later, and the game had been turned on its head. Another Udinese goal put the away side in front, with the goal this time being courtesy of centre-back Danilo. Rising in the box from a corner, the Brazilian planted an unmarked header past the goalkeeper to leave him furious with his loose defence.
The first half seemed to generally be played out in Sampdoria’s favour, yet they went in at the break trailing due to a quickfire salvo from Udinese. The possession stats read 65% in the direction of the home side. Additionally, the Genovese side conceded just seven fouls, in comparison to the side from Udine who gave away 15 fouls.
After the interval, Sampdoria looked to convert their possession into attacking plays. After some good passing interchanges, the ball reached the feet of Eder who could only smash a shot not far wide of the mark.
The home side’s persistence finally paid off again on the hour mark when Gabbiadini converted clinically from a flicked header on what might be his last game for the club, as he has been heavily rumoured to be leaving in January.
Udinese very nearly found a way back in front, but Geijo’s bullet header cracked against the woodwork late on.
Friuli centre-back Thomas Heurtaux was sent off with just minutes remaining after picking up two yellow cards, and could possibly have led to some nervous moments at the tail-end of the match but the score remained the same until the final whistle.
At the end of play, Sampdoria occupy a Europa League place in fourth, while Udinese sit firmly in midtable in ninth place.
