Samp bow out of Coppa Italia after tough night at the Olimpico

Sampdoria were eliminated from the Coppa Italia on Thursday night after a 4-0 defeat to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Blucerchiati looked threatening during the opening exchanges, but were unable to capitalise on their chances and soon fell foul of the Giallorossi’s superior finishing.

Marco Giampaolo rotated his starting line-up for the Round of 16 clash, with Bartosz Bereszynski coming in for his debut and Ante Budimir partnering Luis Muriel up front.

It was almost the perfect start for Samp as Muriel latched onto Budimir’s lay-off, bustled into the box and nipped round Alisson only to see his shot bounce clear off the post. Half chances from Bruno Fernandes and Budimir followed, with Doria making a usually solid Roma backline look decidedly shaky.

Roma whirred into life on the 25-minute mark, Leandro Paredes thrashing a volley off the underside of Christian Puggioni’s crossbar, and as the Giallorossi’s attacking threat grew so too Doria’s hold on the game lessened. Despite Puggioni’s heroics, a sumptuous looping volley from Radja Nainggolan gave Roma a 1-0 lead on 39 minutes.

It was 2-0 soon after the break, as Edin Dzeko slotted home from a Stephan El Shaarawy pass, with the Italian himself then lobbing Puggioni to add a third on 61 minutes. Patrick Schick – on for Budimir – had a goal ruled out for offside in the closing stages, but there was only going to be one winner and sure enough Nainggolan headed into the net in the 90th minute to condemn Samp to a 4-0 loss.

Roma 4-0 Sampdoria (HT: 1-0)
Scorers: Nainggolan 39, 90, Dzeko 47, El Shaarawy 61.

Roma (3-4-2-1): Alisson; Rudiger, Fazio, J. Jesus; Peres, De Rossi, Paredes, M. Rui (Emerson 78); Nainggolan, El Shaarawy (Perotti 66); Dzeko (Totti 62).
Subs not used: Szczesny, Lobont, Strootman, Vermaelen, Seck, Gerson, Manolas.
Coach: Luciano Spalletti.

Sampdoria (4-3-1-2): Puggioni; Bereszynski, Silvestre, Regini, Dodo (Pavlovic 78); Djuricic, Cigarini, Linetty (Praet 68); Fernandes; Budimir (Schick 62), Muriel.
Subs not used: Krapikas, Tozzo, Amuzie, Pereira, Schick, Quagliarella, Torreira, Skriniar.
Coach: Marco Giampaolo.

Referee: Calvarese (Teramo).
Assistants: Cariolato (Legnago), Peretti (Turin).
Fourth official: Russo (Nola).