Chievo defeated Sampdoria 2-1 at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi in what turned out to be a resolute performance from Rolando Maran’s men.
The Flying Donkey’s took the lead in only the second minute of the match after a deflected shot from Mariano Izco found it’s way into the back of the net.
The home side doubled their lead just before half time when Riccardo Meggiorini capitalized on a costly defensive error and fired the ball home. Samp did manage a consolation goal in the dying minutes when Luis Muriel dinked shot tricked into the Chievo goal.
The Gialloblu began the match in terrific fashion as they took the lead in only the second minute of the match thanks to a deflected shot from Izco.
They worked the ball deep into the opposition half and it soon found its way to Ruben Botta just outside the area, as he played in his Argentine team-mate who struck a fierce shot that deflected into the back of the net.
Following the goal, the Flying Donkeys comfortably settled back into their usual defensive formation and allowed the Blucerchiati to retain the majority of possession.
Their tactically rigid defence sat extremely deep whilst the away side lacked the creativity to break down the solid defensive unit.
Sampdoria’s miserable first-half soon got worse when Chievo doubled their lead in the 40th minute thanks to a brilliant solo goal from Meggiorini.
Once again Chievo defended well and launched a long ball towards Samp defender Pawel Wszolek who was positioned on the half-way line.
The makeshift right back was unable to control the ball and the Chievo forward latched onto the defensive mishap, subsequently sprinting the entire length of the opposition half, shrugging off a defender and then slotting the ball through the legs of the oncoming goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
As the game wore on, new Sampdoria signing Samuel Eto’o grew tired of waiting to receive the ball and instead abandoned his position as central striker and ventured elsewhere to try and play a part in the match.
He did begin to see a lot more of the ball as he dropped further and further deeper, however even with this change in position, he was still unable to ignite the Doria attack.
The Blucerchiati should have reopened the match in the 71st minute when they finally managed to create space in the Flying Donkeys penalty area.
Wszolek used good skill to skip past the Zukanovic and drifted in a cross that was met by Djamel Mesbah at the back post. However the defender was unable to keep his shot under control and fired a disappointing volley over Albano Bizzari’s crossbar.
Eventually Sampdoria did manage a breakthrough when they obtained a consolation goal in the 90th minute.
Eto’o was involved once again when he chipped a ball into the path of fellow January signing Muriel who did well to dink the ball into the back of the net.
However it was too little too late as Chievo ran out 2-1 winners to end their five match winless run at home.
