Sampdoria suffered a 3-0 defeat to Genoa in the Derby della Lanterna on Sunday but still managed to seal their Serie A survival due to results elsewhere.
Leonardo Pavoletti opened the scoring before Suso added the next two goals for the Rossoblu, sealing a victory which was revenge for the defeat in the previous derby earlier this season.
Genoa played in a high-tempo manner in the first half and regularly pressed their opponents while Samp played at a slow tempo and made plenty of square passes.
Pavoletti gave the Rossoblu the lead after three minutes when he ran in to tap in Cristian Ansaldi’s low cross.
Blerim Dzemaili tried to make it 2-0 with a lob minutes later but Emiliano Viviano saved the ball. Fabio Quagliarella and Roberto Soriano had some inaccurate attempts on goal for Sampdoria but Suso double his team’s advantage in the 26th minute.
The Spaniard had space on the right-wing and curled a low shot past two Blucerchiati defenders and the goalkeeper. While Samp eventually started to have more possession, only Soriano was able to force a save out of Eugenio Lamanna.
The first 25 minutes of the second half were rather dour; Sampdoria controlled the play but efforts from Quagliarella and Fernando weren’t able to inspire a comeback.
Suso made it 3-0 for the Grifone after 73 minutes. Diego Laxalt’s run was halted by Viviano but Pavoletti got the loose ball and passed to the Spaniard, who struck the ball into an empty net.
Fernando then hit the crossbar and Quagliarella’s header on the rebound went straight at Lamanna. Panagiotis Tachtsidis nearly made it 4-0 with a thunderous shot but Viviano punched the ball away.
