Samp beaten 2-1 by Empoli

After last week’s thrilling contest against Parma, Sampdoria slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to relegation-threatened Empoli, extending the Blucerchiati’s win-less run since their derby victory to four matches. Second-half goals from Diego Farias and Giovanni De Lorenzo gave the away team a two-goal lead and a stoppage-time penalty from Fabio Quagliarella proved only to serve as a consolation for Marco Giampaolo’s side.

It was that time of the season where motivation can make all the difference and Doria, with little more than pride to play for at this stage, came up against an Empoli side in desperate need of points. As such, it was a crucial win for Sunday’s visitors, who opened the scoring ten minutes into the second half. Hamed Junior Traorè escaped around the back of the Sampdoria rear-guard and cut the ball back for Farias. The ball was played slightly behind the on-rushing forward, who did well to improvise and send a back-heeled finish past Emil Audero.

The all-important second goal came with just over 15 minutes to play, when Empoli were awarded a penalty kick following Lorenzo Tonelli’s foul on Farias. Francesco Caputo stepped up to strike the penalty, which went straight down the middle and was blocked by Audero. However the ball fell into the path of De Lorenzo who fired high into the net.

In stoppage time, Samp were handed a penalty of their own, after a foul on substitute Marco Sau. Fabio Quagliarella unsurprising distpatched the spot kick, firing powerfully past Bartłomiej Drągowski in front of the South Stand and notching up goal number 26 of the season.

There was not enough time remaining for Giampaolo’s troops to mount a fightback, so Doria will hope that next weekend’s trip to Verona to face Chievo, who have already been relegated from Serie A, will be a springboard to rounding off the season positively.

Sampdoria 1-2 Empoli (HT: 0-0)

Scorers: Farias 56, Di Lorenzo 75, Quagliarella 90+2 (pen.)

Sampdoria (4-3-1-2): Audero; Sala, Tonelli, Ferrari, Murru; Praet, Ekdal (Sau 72), Jankto; Caprari (Vieira 72); Gabbiadini (Ramírez 80), Quagliarella.
Subs not used: Rafael, Belec, Saponara, Linetty, Tavares, Gabbiadini, Bereszynski.
Coach: Giampaolo.

Empoli (3-5-2): Dragowski; Veseli, Silvestre, Dell’Orco; Di Lorenzo, Traorè (Capezzi 87), Bennacer (Brighi 90+2), Krunic, Pajac; Farias (Acquah 79), Caputo.
Subs not used: Provedel, Perucchini, Pasqual, Rasmussen, Oberlin, Nikolaou, Uçan.
Coach: Andreazzoli.

Referee: Doveri (Rome).
Assistants: Alassio (Imperia) and Fiorito (Salerno).
Fourth official: Di Martino (Teramo).
VAR: Chiffi (Padua).
Assistant VAR: Tonolini (Milan).

Yellow cards: Di Lorenzo 17, Ekdal 30.
Added time: 1 + 6 minutes.