Ranieri delighted with win and clean sheet

Having asked his Sampdoria team to make a decisive step forward, Claudio Ranieri could be pleased with the victory the side picked up against Torino on Sunday.

“We got three points and kept a clean sheet, so I’m doubly happy,” the coach said after the match.

“We knew it’d be tough – our first-half display was very good and intense. We scored a lovely goal to get in front. We expected a different contest in the second period, because Torino came back from 2-0 down to beat Sassuolo 3-2 during the week.”

He added: “We had a very good first part of the season, but in the second part, despite playing well, we’ve not been picking up points. I told my boys that we cannot ruin what we did earlier in the campaign with a lacklustre finale. We have to stay in the top half of the table.”