Sampdoria 0 : 0 Juventus - Juve in Samp stalemate

Posted Sunday, January 23, 2011 by PA

Juventus continued their push for Champions League football with a 0-0 draw at mid-table Sampdoria.

There were chances aplenty at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, but luck was in short supply for both sides as they settled for a point each.

Juve join fifth-placed Inter Milan on 35 points, two behind the top four as the race for European football begins to warm up.

The visitors were the first to threaten after nine minutes but Simone Pepe was unable to find his range from distance.

Samp had to wait 25 minutes for a decent chance, and when it came Reto Ziegler was wasteful from the edge of the area.

Juve should have gone ahead five minutes later through Carvalho Amauri, but he missed an open goal from close range following a perfect cross from Pepe.

And Leonardo Bonucci was also denied the opener soon after, with his header turned away by a diving save from Samp goalkeeper Gianluca Curci.

The home side made a better start to the second half but another chance went begging, this time for Giampaolo Pazzini, who fired wide from a few yards out.

Pepe was guilty of a similar miss for Juventus after 66 minutes, poking Alessandro Del Piero's low cross past the right post.

As the final whistle approached, Juve pushed forward in numbers with Del Piero seeing his shot well saved by Curci two minutes from time.

Amauri then failed to get his toe to an inviting cross from Marco Motta with an empty net at his mercy, while Motta also provided another good ball for Del Piero in stoppage time which the Juve captain flicked over the bar in their final chance of the match.

endM