Barreto and Schick fire Sampdoria to fine win over Torino at Marassi

Sampdoria condemned Torino to a 2-0 defeat at Marassi on Sunday to leave Marco Giampaolo’s side just three points behind the Granata on 22 overall for the season.

After an even first half, Samp took the lead on 51 minutes as Edgar Barreto found the back of the net with a smart finish. And the Blucerchiati had the game sewed up on 94 minutes as Patrik Schick added the second with the last kick of the match, four minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Doria created a slew of chances in the first 45 minutes, Muriel and Barreto combining smartly only for the latter’s pass to be just beyond Quagliarella, who would shave the post with a fierce effort ten minutes later.

Torino were doing their bit to contribute to the spectacle, with Iago Falque clipping the top of the crossbar early on and Adem Ljajic coming close on a number of occasions.

The frenetic tempo dipped as the half wore on, but there was still time for Quagliarella to head narrowly over Joe Hart’s goal.

Neither side made any changes at half time, but the second 45 minutes almost got off to the worst possible start as the inspired Christian Puggioni was forced to show great reflexes to deny the impish Ljajic.

Within minutes of that chance, it was Samp who took the lead. Skriniar leapt to meet a Doria corner, with the ball dropping free in the box for Barreto to whip round and hook it into the back of the net for 1-0.

Marassi was ablaze now, the Gradinata Sud sensing that a huge win was within the Blucerchiati’s grasp. Marco Giampaolo withdrew Bruno Fernandes, sending on Karol Linetty to inject greater bite into the Doria midfield, with Dennis Praet pushing up into the hole.

The tactical shift seemed to work, as Torino huffed and puffed to no avail. The Granata are a quality side, however, and at 1-0 Samp still had work to do. Not least Puggioni, who was forced into a spectacular diving save to keep out Andrea Belotti’s bullet header.

Sinisa Mihajlovic sent on Maxi Lopez and Lucas Boye to try to spark his side into life, while Ricky Alvarez came on to replace Praet. Confusion reigned at Marassi soon afterwards, as the referee’s red card was flashed in the direction of Giampaolo. The Doria boss was forced to take his leave – running across the pitch to warm applause from the Samp faithful – for having overstepped his technical boundary once too often.

Patrik Schick took over from Luis Muriel on 90 minutes, seemingly to help run the clock down. But the young Czech had other ideas, showing impressive composure to stab the ball through Hart’s legs and seal the three points for his team deep in stoppage time.

Sampdoria 2-0 Torino (HT: 0-0)
Scorers: Barreto 51, Schick 90+5.

Sampdoria (4-3-1-2): Puggioni; Pereira, Silvestre, Skriniar, Regini; Barreto, Torreira, Praet (Alvarez 83); Fernandes (Linetty 60); Quagliarella, Muriel (Schick 90).
Subs not used: Krapikas, Tozzo, Dodo, Eramo, Krajnc, Palombo, Cigarini, Djuricic, Budimir.
Coach: Marco Giampaolo.

Torino (4-3-3): Hart; Zappacosta, Rossettini, Castan, Barreca; Benassi (Boye 70), Valdifiori, Baselli (Acquah 84); Falque (M. Lopez 79), Belotti, Ljajic.
Subs not used: Padelli, Cucchietti, Bovo, Gustafson, Martínez, Moretti, Lukic, De Silvestri, Ajeti.
Coach: Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Referee: Orsato (Schio).
Assistants: Carbone (Naples), Di Liberatore (Teramo).
Fourth official: Tasso (Spezia).
Additional assistants: Valeri (Roma 2), Sacchi (Macerata).

Yellow cards: Rossettini 22, Barreto 29, Benassi 58, Barreca 58, Baselli 72.
Red cards: Giampaolo 77.

Added time: 0 + 4 minutes.