Tonelli: “The draw was a fair result”

Lorenzo Tonelli knows how to make amends for his mistakes. Having been too slow to react when the Rossoblu opened the scoring in the 105^th Derby della Lanterna, the defender popped up with a fine and precise header to restore parity. “Just as well,” admitted the defender, “because the game was quite tight and I think the draw was a fair result. We conceded a preventable goal, but kept believing in ourselves. We responded well, wanted to get back in the game and managed to do so.”

It was the first goal by a Sampdoria defender in the derby since Hugo Campagnaro struck back in 2009. “I hadn’t scored yet this season and among other things, one of the physios felt it was coming; he told me as much. Scoring is always wonderful and this was the best time to do so. What do I think about the derby? It’s a fixture like no other. There’s tension and that fear of making mistakes that sometimes leads you to do just that.”