Sampdoria 3 : 1 Bologna - Samp ease the pressure

Posted Sunday, February 13, 2011 by PA

Sampdoria eased the pressure on coach Domenico Di Carlo in emphatic style as they powered to a 3-1 victory over Bologna in the Serie A encounter at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

The hosts went into the game on the back of one win in eight - and a run of four straight losses in all competitions - but took the game to Bologna to establish a three-goal lead inside 15 minutes.

Angelo Palombo set the ball rolling with the opener on eight minutes before Daniele Gastaldello added the second three minutes later. Massimo Maccarone added a third on the quarter-hour.

Bologna regrouped to see out the match without conceding again, and pulled a goal back through Daniele Paponi after 65 minutes, but they never looked in any danger of clawing their way back onto level terms.

A moment of brilliance broke the deadlock inside 10 minutes, a foul 25 yards from goal presenting Samp with a free-kick which Palombo dispatched into the top corner beyond the helpless Emiliano Viviano.

With 11 minutes on the watch it was 2-0, another set-piece doing the damage as Maccarone's corner was met with a close-range header into the roof of the net by centre-back Gastaldello.

And four minutes later it was three, a swift Samp counter-attack creating the opening for Maccarone to tuck away a smart finish into the bottom corner of Viviano's net.

The hosts might have added to their lead before the break when Maccarone fired just wide, while minutes after the restart Stefano Guberti saw his low effort well saved by Viviano.

Paponi added some respectability to the scoreline for Bologna with 25 minutes remaining, the forward taking the ball beyond Stefano Lucchini and firing home a low effort beyond the reach of Gianluca Curci.

Viviano denied Daniele Dessena with seven minutes remaining as Samp pushed to put the game to bed, while at the death Curci denied Bologna a second when he kept out Gaston Ramirez's close-range volley.