Samp produce stellar comeback to beat Udinese

Goals from Fabio Quagliarella, Federico Bonazzoli and Manolo Gabbiadini helped Sampdoria come from behind and claim a huge win over Udinese on Sunday evening. The away side went into the contest knowing that three points would provide welcome breathing space between themselves and the relegation zone and Claudio Ranieri’s men produced an excellent performance to claim a 3-1 victory.

The visitors arguably had the better of the play in the first 45 minutes, in terms of control and chances, and could feel slightly unfortunate to fall behind with not long before the half-time interval. Kevin Lasagna pounced on a long-ball forward, escaping the Doria defence before firing a splendid left-foot shot from the edge of the box, which arrowed across Emil Audero and into the corner. The goal sparked fury among the Samp ranks, as some felt that Maya Yoshida had been fouled in the build-up, but the opener would stand.

Fortunately for Claudio Ranieri’s side, they were able to draw level on the stroke of half-time, as captain fantastic Fabio Quagliarella marked his return from injury with a crucial equaliser. The striker produced an excellent first-time finish from inside the area, after Albin Ekdal chested a lofted ball forward into his path. It was a deserved equaliser for the away side who certainly would not have deserved to trail at the break.

Samp pushed on in the second period but had to wait until the final 10 minutes to edge in front. The crucial second goal was an absolute peach from Bonazzoli; after Samp worked the ball well into the penalty box, a pair of fortunate deflections set up the ball perfectly for the striker, who produced a delightful overhead kick with his left foot to make the score 2-1. As the game drew to a close, Gabbiadini put the game to bed, collecting Yoshida’s long ball forward, cutting inside onto his left boot and curling into the corner.

With that result the Blucerchiati bounced back from their mid-week disappointment against Atalanta to make it three wins from their last four. On Wednesday they host Cagliari.

Udinese 1-3 Sampdoria (HT: 1-1)
Scorers: Lasagna 37, Quagliarella 45+1; Bonazzoli 84, Gabbiadini 90+3.

Udinese (3-5-2): Musso; Ekong, Nuytinck, Samir; Stryger Larsen (Ter Avest 68), De Paul, Jajalo (Teodorczyk 86), Walace (Fofana 53), Sema; Lasagna, Nestorovski (Okaka 53).
Subs not used: Perisan, Nicolas, Becao, Ballarini, Mazzolo, Palumbo, Zeegelaar, De Maio.
Coach: Gotti.

Sampdoria (4-4-1-1): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Depaoli, Thorsby, Ekdal, Linetty; Ramírez (Bonazzoli 45); Quagliarella (Gabbiadini 78).
Subs not used: Seculin, Chabot, Bonazzoli, Jankto, Askildsen, La Gumina, Maroni, Léris, Murru, D’Amico, Bertolacci.
Coach: Benetti.

Referee: Valeri.
Assistants: Bresmes, Caliari.
Fourth official: Rapuano.
VAR: Pasqua.
AVAR: Ranghetti.