Muriel and Correa draw Samp level but contentious penalty hands victory to Bologna

Football can be a cruel game sometimes: Sampdoria lose 3-2 against Bologna thanks to a highly dubious penalty converted late on by Mattia Destro after having fought back from 2-0 down to 2-2.

Vincenzo Montella opted to start his new signings in a 4-2-3-1 with Jacopo Sala and Dodo Pires as full-backs and Andrea Ranocchia partnering Niklas Moisander in central defence. Luis Muriel was given the nod ahead of Antonio Cassano as the target man, supported by Joaquin Correa, Roberto Soriano and David Ivan. Edgar Barreto and Fernando were the pivots in the middle of the park.

Sampdoria began with the right attitude, but it was the hosts who almost took the lead after their first attack. Destro rose undisturbed in the box and hit the inside of the post with a header. It was a omen of what was to come, with Bologna scoring on their next foray into the Blucerchiati half. Godfred Donsah squared it to Anthony Mounier in the box who opened his body up and snuck it in under the crossbar.

The goal dented Samp’s spirits and the hosts rubbed salt in the wound by doubling their advantage shortly after. Donsah pounced on a poor pass from Ranocchia and fizzed it past Emiliano Viviano in goal.

Montella made a change at half-time, bringing on Matias Silvestre for Barreto and moving to three at the back. It seemed to have worked as Luis Muriel halved Bologna’s lead with a neat shot inside Antonio Mirante’s far post in the 54th minute.

Now it was Doria’s turn to dictate proceedings and – despite two costly bookings for Fernando and Silvestre that rule them out of the Torino game – they drew level with ten minutes of normal time left on the clock. Correa pounced on his own rebound and smashed it in to continue his rich vein of goalscoring form.

A draw would have been a fair reward for Sampdoria’s effort but it was snatched away from Montella’s men through a highly questionable refereeing decision: Michael Fabbri pointed to the spot claiming that Ricky Alvarez had handled in the area. Mattia Destro sent Viviano the wrong way from the penalty and restore the home team’s lead.

Another difficult away day for Sampdoria who return to Genoa empty-handed and four points above the relegation zone.

Bologna 3-2 Sampdoria
Scorers: Mounier 13, Donsah 24, Muriel 54, Correa 80, Destro 87 (p).

Bologna (4-3-3): Mirante; Rossettini, Oikonomou, Gastaldello, Masina; Donsah (Rizzo 61), Diawara, Taider; Mounier (Brighi 66), Destro, Giaccherini (Floccari 76).
Subs not used: Da Costa, Stojanovic, Morleo, Pulgar, Crisetig, Mbaye, Maietta, Brienza, Ferrari.
Coach: Roberto Donadoni.

Sampdoria (4-2-3-1): Viviano; Sala, Ranocchia, Moisander, Dodô (Coda 84); Fernando, Barreto (Silvestre 45); Ivan, Soriano (Alvarez 76), Correa; Muriel.
Subs not used: Puggioni, Brignoli, Rodriguez, Pereira, Palombo, Christodoulopoulos, Skriniar, Cassano.
Coach: Vincenzo Montella.

Referee: Michael Fabbri (Ravenna).
Assistants: Filippo Meli (Parma) and Alessandro Lo Cicero (Brescia).
Fourth official: Espedito Marco Musolino (Taranto).
Additional assistants: Andrea Gervasoni (Mantova) and Luigi Nasca (Bari).

Yellow cards: Fernando 32, Ivan 61, Mounier 63, Silvestre 65, Gastaldello 68, Alvarez 87, Oikonomou 90+2.

Additional time: 0+5 minutes.

Attendance: Season-ticket holders 12,734 (total gate receipts €184,882), matchday tickets 5309 (total gate receipts €63,828).

Pitch surface: Good condition.