Stankovic: “It was a great team reaction”

Sampdoria fell to defeat against Juventus on Sunday evening, but coach Dejan Stankovic was pleased with the spirit his players showed to get themselves back in the match. “We responded brilliantly. It was a great team reaction from men with integrity.”

The Blucerchiati had found themselves two goals down after 30 minutes against the Bianconeri and Stankovic felt they were sloppy goals to give away. “We conceded two goals not because we were playing Juve but because we gave them away very easily. We can and must do better.”

Despite the team’s response to level things up, Juve took the lead again in the second half in what was a controversial goal after Adrien Rabiot appeared to handle the ball before taking his shot. “We had a goal disallowed against Empoli for handball when Manolo Gabbiadini fell on top of the ball. Here, he stopped the ball with his arm. There’s the referee and the VAR. Perhaps they got a good look at it and I’ll accept that, but it doesn’t seem that way. It should have been disallowed.”

With Verona coming up next week, he is firmly focused on what his team can do. “We’re focused on Samp. We’re thinking about our club, our team and what we’re doing.”