Jankto: “Pleased with my goal, even more with the win”

Jakub Jankto’s fifth goal of the season sparked Sampdoria’s resurgence against Verona as they overturned a first-half deficit to claim a much-needed win at the Ferraris.

The Czech midfielder slammed home minutes after the interval to equal his personal-best tally in a Serie A campaign – with seven games left to improve it.

“My goal gave us belief right from the restart that we could turn it around. We could have scored more – myself included – but we didn’t manage it. When Silvestri came out, I was quite close and I wanted to dink it over him but I should have done better with it. It was a great chance. It was nice for me personally to get on the score sheet but even better that it helped us win.”

The second-half comeback underlined Sampdoria’s desire to keep pushing and finish the season strongly.

“We didn’t play particularly well in the first half – that wasn’t how we wanted to start,” Jankto continued. [Darko] Lazovic scored a superb goal. We picked ourselves up after the break and played really well, with anger and desire – that made the difference.

“Now we have to go to Crotone and try to win that too. We mustn’t ease up as we’ve done towards the end of the campaign in other seasons.”