Sampdoria held visitors Palermo to a scintillating 1-1 draw the the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Sunday’s Serie A match.
The ejection of Andrea Fulignati at the midway point of the second half was not enough to tip the result in the Blucerchiati’s favour, who sit level with Lazio in third place on 34 points in Serie A.
From the first touch of the ball the two sides made the most of their creativity and were able to each win corner kicks in the first five minutes. The Rosanero continued their bright start with a strike from Francesco Bolzoni to force Emiliano Viviano into action, but it would be the hosts to get off the mark first.
A wonderful team buildup started from Angelo Palombo who linked with Roberto Soriano in the middle of the park, who then sent a precise through ball into the penalty area for Eder who slotted home after just six minutes of play.
With the advantage, Sampdoria pressed further on the visitors and began to look dangerous on set-pieces. A cross from Alfred Duncan’s corner kick was met with a header back towards goal from Lorenzo De Silvestri, but Michel Morganella did well to make his headed clearance away from the line.
Matias Silvestre looked to double the lead for the home side at the midway point of the first half after Alfred Duncan’s free kick swooped into the box to find the Argentine one-on-one with Stefano Sorrentino, but the defender scuffed his effort into the path of the Italian and was left frustrated.
The Rosanero answered the pressure well with their minority of chances, and Edgar Barreto had his strike to go on level terms missed from the top of the 18-yard-box after a half hour of play.
Eder nearly punished the missed opportunity just seconds later with a similar run of play to his opening goal, but Roberto Vitiello made a great slide tackle to block the shot.
The back and forth affair continued until the final moments of the first half, where once again Matias Silvestre failed to net his first goal for the Blucerchiati when his headed effort was impressively denied by Sorrentino to preserve the lead for the home side at half time.
At the restart, Palermo immediately turned the game on its head and looked as if they were playing at home. In only six minutes the Rosanero found an equalizer through a blistering half volley by Franco Vasquez after being spotted by Edgar Barreto at the top of the box.
