Muriel ends Doria’s Rossoneri hoodoo; Blucerchiati celebrations at San Siro

Marco Giampaolo’s Sampdoria recorded their first away win since the opening day of the campaign with a tremendous display against AC Milan this afternoon.

The Blucerchiati have thus added another major scalp to last week’s 3-2 win against Roma and proved that the poor form earlier this year was merely a blip in this young side’s promising development.

The pre-match omens didn’t look good, as Edgar Barreto pulled up with injury during the warm-up forcing Giampaolo into a last-minute change. His replacement, Karol Linetty, produced an impressive performance and was behind Samp’s first big chance of the game. Played in by Luis Muriel, the Pole hit the ball cleanly but Gianluigi Donnarumma was equal to it.

At the other end of the pitch, Emiliano Viviano – back in the team after spending 17 matches on the sidelines through injury – was in fine form, saving against Andrea Bertolacci and Mario Pasalic.

The first half was a lively but even affair. Sampdoria started the better side but Vincenzo Montella’s players grew into it and were probably shading the contest by the end. Nevertheless, neither team could break the deadlock and it was goalless at half-time.

Doria rode their luck at the start of the second half, when Viviano palmed an effort from Suso straight into Gerard Deulofeu’s path. The Spaniard took a touch, settled himself and aimed for the far corner, but the post came to Samp’s rescue.

After a couple of chances for both sides, Giampaolo decided to shake things up by replacing Bruno Fernandes with Filip Djuricic. It was an inspired decision, as the young Serb completely changed the game in the Blucerchiati’s favour. Picking Cristian Zapata’s pocket in the 69th minute, he looked up and burst into the space before passing to Fabio Quagliarella in the area. The No.27 showed all his class and experience to drop his shoulder and go the other way, drawing Gabriel Paletta into a foul and the clearest penalty you’ll see all season. Luis Muriel stood up to take it and sent Donnarumma the wrong way for 1-0.

Sampdoria had 20 minutes to play and were made to work very hard for the victory. Viviano kept the scoreline as it was with a string of increasingly stunning saves, including a one-on-one with Gianluca Lapadula that was followed up by an instinctive reaction on Ignazio Abate’s poked effort.

Djuricic could even have made absolutely sure of the points in the 82nd minute, but after a mazy run leaving a few Rossoneri defenders in his wake his shot was turned around the post by Donnarumma’s fingertips.

Milan’s final assault ran out of steam and Sampdoria were able to comfortably see out the final few minutes. It’s our first win against Milan since 2012: what more can you ask for?

AC Milan 0-1 Sampdoria (HT: 0-0)

Scorers: Muriel 69 (p).

Milan (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Kucka, C. Zapata, Paletta, Romagnoli; Bertolacci (Ocampos 79), Sosa, Pasalic (Abate 72); Suso, Bacca (Lapadula 72), Deulofeu.
Subs not used: Storari, Honda, M. Fernández, G. Gómez, Poli, Vangioni, Locatelli, Calabria.
Coach: Vincenzo Montella.

Sampdoria (4-3-1-2): Viviano; Bereszynski, Silvestre, Skriniar, Regini; Praet, Torreira, Linetty; Fernandes (Djuricic 54); Muriel (Alvarez 80), Quagliarella (Schick 71).
Subs not used: Puggioni, Krapikas, Dodo, Palombo, Pavlovic, Cigarini, Budimir, Tomic.
Coach: Marco Giampaolo.

Referee: Marco Guida.
Assistants: Andrea Marzaloni and Filippo Valeriani.
Fourth official: Rodolfo Di Vuolo.
Additional assistants: Domenico Celi and Francesco Paolo Saia.

Yellow cards: Torreira 28, Suso 60, Kucka 63, Sosa 85, Bacca 90, Djuricic 90+4.
Red cards: Sosa 90.

Additional time: 1+4 minutes.