Sampdoria 2 – 0 Fiorentina
Feb/100
Two Ghosts Return To Haunt The Viola!
Giampaolo Pazzini and Franco Semioli returned to haunt their former club, and add to Fiorentina’s crisis. Fiorentina who this evening were playing all in red, had picked up one point from their last four games. Samp had notched up three consecutive wins prior to this match and had leapfrogged Fiorentina in the table.
Suspensions: Marco Rossi (S) and Adrian Mutu (F)
First Half Action
Sampdoria started the stronger side with an Andrea Poli strike skimming the target and Reto Ziegler horribly scuffing a shot wide from a promising position. Fiorentina then lost Alessandro Gamberini to a shoulder injury, then moments later Mario Alberto Santana pulled up with a thigh problem. Cesare Prandelli was cursing his luck, having to make two substitutions in the opening 15 minutes.
Sampdoria took the lead in bizarre circumstances. Nicola Pozzi’s header from a Stefano Guberti cross looped over Sebastien Frey and on to the bar, but Franco Semioli dived on to the rebound heading the ball into Manuel Pasqual and into the net. It was a special goal for Semioli, who wore the Fiorentina shirt from 2007 to 2009.
Semioli nearly got a second by cutting in from the right with an angled drive that Frey palmed round the base of the post. Nicola Pozzi smashed a powerful first-time shot over from outside the box after yet more good play from Ziegler.
Alberto Gilardino’s fine volley forced Marco Storari to produce a good reaction save from point-blank range, however the offside flag had been raised in a close decision.
Sampdoria doubled their lead through another former Fiorentina player Giampaolo Pazzini. A Ziegler free kick was beautifully whipped in from the left wing for Pazzini to leap above the defenders and send a powerful header in off the underside of the crossbar.
Guberti smashed a strike on the volley just past the woodwork in first half stoppage time.
Second Half Action
Pazzini sprung clear of the offside trap, but stumbled on the ball when he was distracted by looking up at Frey.
Storari plucked Marco Marchionni’s header off the head of Gilardino following good work from Stevan Jovetic. The skilful Montenegrin then skimmed the near post from the edge of the box.
Adem Ljajic was Fiorentina’s final substitution and with practically his first touch fired a shot off target from the D. Marchionni fired over from a corner, but for the most part Fiorentina were reduced to hopeful efforts from distance.
For the second time in the game Frey had his palms stung by a missile of a free kick from Ziegler. Pazzini was clear on goal but tripped up on the ball, probably caused by the appalling state of the pitch.
Riccardo Montolivo was booked late on and will be suspended for the next match and Jovetic volleyed over in stoppages.
The win moves Samp into a champions league place but leaves Fiorentina firmly in the middle of the Serie A table.
Sampdoria: Storari; Zauri, Lucchini, Gastaldello, Ziegler; Semioli, Palombo, Poli (Padalino 76), Guberti (Mannini 59); Pazzini, Pozzi (Tissone 70)
Fiorentina: Frey; Comotto, Gamberini (Felipe 11), Kroldrup, Pasqual (Ljajic 69); Montolivo, Donadel; Santana (Marchionni 15), Jovetic, Vargas; Gilardino
phil_c64
Preview: Sampdoria v Fiorentina
Feb/100
Sampdoria v Fiorentina
Saturday 13th February 2010
Luigi Ferraris Stadium, Genoa
Sampdoria (6th)
Last weeks predictable win at bottom side Siena stretched the blucerchiati’s winning sequence to three wins, and confirmed Samps return to form following a miserable Christmas period. Sampdoria’s improvement in fortunes since Antonio Cassano was dropped/injured is incredible, while Fantantonio’s replacement Pozzi has come in and scored two goals in three games. Del Neri is either a genius, or lucky.
However, Cassano’s absence might not be the reason behind Samps upturn in form. Two of their three wins have come against bottom three sides (Siena and Atalanta), teams that Samp would almost certainly have beaten anyway. And the third victory away at Udinese looks impressive, but Udinese were extremely poor and Samp a little fortunate on the day.
Also worth considering is that we are at the midpoint of the season now, playing the reverse fixtures of the seasons opening fixtures. These were the games that Samp were winning to go on their turbo-charged start to the campaign. Samp beat Udinese, Atalanta and Siena in a row at the beginning of the year, and have done the same in their last three games. The obvious conclusion is not that Samp are in brilliant form, but that they are once again playing the teams in the league that they can beat.
Following this sequence we see that Samp played in Florence in their fifth game of the season, with Samp coming off the back of four straight wins. Fiorentina won 2-0. Will this sequence repeat itself on Saturday when Fiorentina visit the Luigi Ferraris?
Team News: Cassano has a thigh strain and is rated as doubtful for the game. Pazzini is expected to overcome the minor injury sustained at Siena.
Fiorentina (11th)
Fiorentina are stumbling having failed to win any of their last four games. With Mutu banned and Gilardino firing blanks, what should be a formidable attacking team look a little short on confidence in attack. Fiorentina, and Montolivo in particular, dominated Roma last week in the Sunday night game. But they couldn’t convert possession into goals, and paid the price when Roma scored yet another late winner to take all three points.
Transfer rumours linking the Viola with Samp stars Cassano and Pazzini (a former Fiorentina player) may unsettle the Samp men, but it may also hit the confidence of the current Fiorentina players who play in these positions. There is no doubt that Cassano’s decision to reject Fiorentina and stay at the Marassi was a big boost for Samp, and a bitter blow for Fiorentina.
After Saturday nights televised game at the Marassi, Fiorentina travel to Munich for a huge Champions League game against German giants Bayern. Teams that are not champions league regulars and do not have Champions League resources, like Fiorentina, often struggle to both maintain league consistency and perform well in the Champions League. You so often see teams like this struggle in the games played before or after big Champions League encounters. The coach may select a strong side, but it is human nature that in the back of the player’s minds they are thinking about the big match coming up four days later.
Add into this the fact that Fiorentina’s away form is poor, with just three wins from 11 games this season.
Opposition dangerman
Alberto Gilardino. The poacher may have looked out of form against Roma last week but the former Piacenza, Verona, Parma and Milan can never be taken lightly. Gilardino was in scintillating form in Italys final world cup qualifying games to secure Italian qualification.
Head to head
Sampdoria traditionally have a good record in this fixture and have won three, drawn two and lost one of the last six games at the Marassi. However the most recent encounter, last season, saw a 1-0 win for Fiorentina.
Prediction
This looks a very closely matched encounter, and is one best avoided for serious gamblers. Fiorentina won this fixture last season, and the game in Florence earlier this season, and Samps early season sequence of results suggest this may be a game they will lose. Under normal circumstances, if pushed, it would be tempting to go for a Fiorentina win at prices that look big at 2/1.
But there is a bomb in the formbook here – Fiorentina’s upcoming Champions League game in Munich in midweek. Couple this with Fiorentina’s patchy away form, and (assuming Pazzini plays) I estimate that Sampdoria are 40% likely to win this with 30% chance of a draw and 30% chance of Fiorentina win. In view of the prices available at the bookmakers, 6/4 or over on the Sampdoria win might just have a tiny hint of value.
More risk averse punters may consider taking Sampdoria with level ball on the asian handicap. This means your stake is returned in the event of a draw. Sampdoria’s price here is 3/4.
SAMPDORIA TO WIN (just)
MUG_OUFC
Del Neri Analyses First Samp Loss
Sep/090
Sampdoria got a sharp dose of reality on Wednesday night at the Stadio Franchi in Florence, going down 2-0 to an aggressive Fiorentina side obviously spurned by their coaches description of them as ‘the worst Fiorentina I’ve seen’ after their loss in Roma on the weekend.
Sampdoria began strongly and Viola goalkeeper Frey was called upon to make three excellent saves in the first half to deny Cassano, then Pazzini and then Mannini who all got their shots on goal with some power.
However, at the other end Fiorentina were consistent in attack and capitalised on poor marking from the Sampdoria defense to score a relatively soft goal from the head of Jovetic. Fiorentina went further ahead in the second half with another header from Gilardino, and despite changing to his most attacking formation with Pozzi joining Pazzini and Cassano upfront, Del Neri’s men were unable to make an impact and brought to an end their history-making four match opening run.
Del Neri had this to say after the game:
“I’m not upset after the loss. We were not ‘out of place’ before and were still not after this defeat. We let in a goal, the first, from a fairly ‘banal’ piece of play. But these are mistakes that get made. The errror was that Stankevicius was too far away from the open goal. But we know that it’s possible to make mistakes, we know how to study them so to not make them again. Also we’re conscious of what we can do, what we are doing and what we will do.
“For the second goal Vargas shouldn’t have been allowed to cross the ball in. But as I said, these are mistakes that happen, it’s enough to be aware of them and how they happen.”
Del Neri finished by saying he is “serenely awaiting Inter on the weekend” showing no signs of panic. And there need not be. 12 points, 4 wins and 1 loss, attractive play, and beaten in a game that Samp played quite well in away to a higher rated team, the first balance-sheet of this years Sampdoria is still overwhelmingly positive.
Doc
Soaring Samp Stay Top Of Serie A
Sep/090
Sampdoria have soared to the top of Serie A by claiming a comprehensive 4-1 home win over Siena. The win against Siena made history for the port club. They have now claimed four straight victories in the opening four games a feat never previously achieved by the ‘Blucerchiati’. Juventus are the only other serie a club to have claimed a 100% start to serie a, after Genoa were beaten 3-1 by Chievo ending their three match winning streak.
Samp and Siena had a player suspended, Fernando Tissone for his red card against Atalanta and Paul Constantin Codrea for Siena.
First half action Antonio Cassano dribbled down the left flank and cut back onto this left foot to test Curci, who parried the shot.
It was Angelo Palombo who gave Samp the deserved lead. He ran past two players and unleashed a powerful strike that Gianluca Curci was unable to keep hold of.
Cassano created the second for Samp, as his pass released Daniele Mannini down the right, who delicately lobbed Curci from eight yards.
Padalino came on for the injured Semioli in the second half and within 2 minutes got his name on the scoresheet. Cassano’s shot was beaten away into the path of the Swiss midfielder who couldn’t miss with an opening goal beckoning.
Siena got one back on 68 minutes, as Michele Fini’s shot from 25 yards out took a wicked deflection off Poli to leave Castellazzi completely rooted to the spot.
The substitute Padalino could have claimed a second after cassano’s beautifully crafted cross from the left found Padalino’s head, but Curci produced a fantastic save.
Padalino was not to be denied claiming his second of the game 5 minutes from time with a simple tap in, after Pazzini’s powerful drive was only parried away.
Samp now face a much tougher test against Fiorentina as they try to make it five out of five.
phil_c64
Franco Semioli Signs
Aug/090
Sampdoria have confirmed the signing of Fiorentina right winger Franco Semioli.
The official website stated
“U.C. Sampdoria S.p.a. announced to have signed on a definite contract, from the Associazione Calcio Fiorentina, the sports rights of the player Franco Semioli.
“The right winger will take the number 77 and will be presented tomorrow afternoon at 4pm, at the press hall of the sports centre ‘Gloriano Mugnaini’ of Bogliasco.”
The fee is thought to be in the region of four to five million euros.
ucsampdoria.co.uk
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