Udinese 2 v 3 Sampdoria

Sampdoria Start Their Revival In Udine.

Sampdoria fought back twice to defeat Udinese at the Stadio Friuli despite coach Luigi Del Neri dropping Antonio Cassano for the game.

Match Action: 1st Half

Udinese by far had the best of the first half chances with Antonio Di Natale chipping the ball over the Sampdoria defence for Alexis Sanchez to spring the offside trap, but the young Chilean lost his footing.

Moments later Di Natale sprinted into the box and was brought down by a careless Cacciatore challenge, as Di Natale beautifully dinked the ball past the Samp defender, only to be brought down. Di Natale converted the penalty sending Marco Storari the wrong way for his 13th goal of the season.

It was nearly 2-0 less than a minute later as Sanchez dribbled past two Sampdoria defenders but his pull-back intended for Di Natale was intercepted by Cacciatore.
Gokhan Inler made a good run down the right flank pulled the ball back for Di Natale to fire a stinging shot at Marco Storari’s palms.

Sampdoria against the run of play where then awarded a penalty as Simone Pepe clumsily tripped Nicola Pozzi. Giampaolo Pazzini converted the penalty, which hit the inside of the upright to ricochet in and draw Sampdoria level.

The Blucherciati nearly took the lead when Semioli’s header from quality Ziegler cross caused Handanovic to punch the ball away, very nearly right into the path of Pazzini.

Udinese restored their advantage just before half time with Mauricio Isla’s first ever Serie A goal. He controlled a Aleksandr Lukovic through ball in the D and chipped the ball over a helpless Storari. It was a goal of real quality.

Match Action: 2nd Half

Sampdoria showed great character in the second half and equalized after a misplaced Pazzini shot found the head of Pozzi who forced a good save from Handanovic, but the goalkeeper could do nothing with the rebound which Pozzi converted.

Incredibly and wonderfully for Blucerchiati supporters Sampdoria made it 3-2 with substitute Fernando Tissone’s through ball allowed Semioli to spring the offside trap down the left flank, control the ball and thump an angled drive into the corner.

Udinese’s Alexis Sanchez was livid when he was booked for diving after clashing with Gastaldello in the penalty area. Antonio Floro Flores pounced on a poor Luciano Zauri backpass, but Storari rushed out to clear off his feet. Sampdoria nearly made it four with Tissone again cutting open the Udinese defence with a lethal through ball for Pazzini who fired straight at Handanovic.

The win moves Sampdoria up to tenth, but leaves Udinese only one point above the dreaded relegation zone.

Di Natale pen 7 (U), Pazzini pen 27 (S), Isla 44 (U), Pozzi 57 (S), Semioli 66 (S)

---

phil_c64