Samp slump to narrow defeat at Sassuolo

It was a disappointing outing on Sunday afternoon in Emilia, as Sampdoria’s hopes of qualifying for the Europa League appeared to finally peter out. Marco Giampaolo’s men find themselves six points behind Milan, who occupy sixth position, and five behind Atalanta with just two games to play. In truth, Sassuolo were not made to work too hard to bag all three points on the day and ensure their place in Serie A for next season.

Doria began the contest with the same eleven who excelled in the win over Cagliari, but were unable to take that form to the Mapei Stadium. Goal-mouth action was limited in the first half, though Sassuolo were the more dangerous of the two teams. The home side came closest around the half-hour mark, as Domenico Berardi’s close-range effort was saved by Emiliano Viviano. Joachim Andersen then got in the way as Stefano Sensi tried to score the rebound.

By sending Gaston Ramirez on in place of Edgar Barreto for the start of the second period, Giampaolo hoped to swing the game in his side’s favour, but the match continued in much the same vein. The hammer blow for the away side came with just over 20 minutes to play. Berardi won the ball in midfield before finding Alfred Duncan, who laid the ball off for Matteo Politano to score, smashing high past Viviano from a tight angle.

Sampdoria were unable to forge a way back into the game and will be disappointed with their failure to force keeper Andrea Consigli into action. It was a lacklustre display overall but two games remain to round off the season on a positive note.

Sassuolo 1– 0 Sampdoria (HT: 0-0)
Scorer: Politano 67
Sassuolo (3-5-2): Consigli; Lemos, Acerbi, Dell’Orco (Peluso 20); Adjapong, Missiroli, Sensi, Duncan, Rogerio; Berardi (Ragusa 88), Politano (Babacar 74).
Subs not used: Pegolo, Magnanelli, Mazzitelli, Biondni, Matri, Pierini, Frattesi, Cassata, Letschert.
Coach: Iachini.
Sampdoria (4-3-1-2): Viviano; Bereszynski, Silvestre, Andersen, Sala; Barreto (Ramírez 46), Torreira, Linetty; Praet (Stijepovic 85); Quagliarella (Caprari 66), Kownacki.
Subs not used: Belec, Tozzo, Ferrari, Strinic, Regini, Verre, Capezzi.
Coach: Giampaolo.

Referee: La Penna (Roma 1).
Assistants: Passeri (Gubbio) and Mondin (Treviso).
Fourth official: Marinelli (Tivoli).
VAR: Calvarese (Teramo).
Assistant VAR: Di Liberatore (Teramo).
Yellow cards: Peluso 54, Ramirez 90.
Added time: 2 + 2 minutes.