Crotone moved closer to relegation as they fell to a 1-0 home defeat against Sampdoria on Wednesday evening.
As usual Crotone created multiple good opportunities, but their defensive frailties were exposed by Fabio Quagliarella’s winner just after half-time.
An eventful first half saw Simy Nwankwo and Junior Messias miss very presentable chances for Crotone. Both had a clear shot on goal but fired it straight at the goalkeeper. At the other end, a sweeping Sampdoria move ended with Jakub Jankto firing a shot just wide.
The deadlock was broken early in the second half by Quagliarella. The ball was picked up on the byline by Manolo Gabbiadini and he chipped it to the back post where the 38-year-old just had to make contact and poke it in.
After the goal Sampdoria looked likely to double their lead but both Gabbiadini and Quagliarella missed chances. Crotone pushed as they tried to save their season, and Simy missed a great chance from close range with two minutes to go.
Crotone are not mathematically relegated after this result but in reality they have to win all their remaining games. Sampdoria rise to ninth place.
