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Sampdoria vs Verona. Italian Serie A.

Luigi FerrarisAttendance19,609.

Sampdoria 1

  • A Acquah (sent off 57th minute)
  • L De Silvestri (65th minute)

Verona 1

  • L Toni (68th minute)

Italian Serie A report: Sampdoria 1 Verona 1 Verona frustrate Sampdoria

Lorenzo De Silvestri of UC Sampdoria celebrates after scoring the opening goal
Image: Lorenzo De Silvestri of UC Sampdoria celebrates after scoring the opening goal

Sampdoria missed an opportunity to strengthen their grip on a place in Europe next season as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Hellas Verona.

Despite losing Afriyie Acquah to a red card, Sampdoria took the lead in the 65th minute through Lorenzo De Silvestri.

Luca Toni equalised minutes later, though, to deny the Blucerchiati a win which would have given them a three-point cushion over sixth-placed Genoa in the search for a place in the Europa League next season.

As it is, Samp are just a point clear of their city rivals with five games of the season to go and with a host of clubs still in close pursuit.

Samp coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was expecting a response from his side's defeat to Napoli on Sunday and he looked like he was going to get what he wanted as the Blucerchiati took charge of the game right from the start.

The first big opportunity arrived after 20 minutes when Stefano Okaka ended up sitting on the ball just a yard from goal with Frederik Sorenson doing enough eventually to clear the danger.

Luis Muriel then went close with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area which only just missed the left-hand post as the Genovese side started to get closer.

Their hopes were dealt a blow 12 minutes into the second half when Acquah was shown a second yellow card for a deliberate handball, leaving Mihajlovic with only 10 men for over half an hour.

Paradoxically they managed to find even more space with a man less, Muriel advancing unchallenged with the ball at his feet before delivering a pass to Silvestri with such good timing that the full-back only had to focus on stroking the ball in, which he did with aplomb without breaking his stride.

Their lead lasted only a handful of minutes, though, before former Genoa forward Toni netted his 18th goal of the season from close range to bring Hellas back on terms and give the visitors renewed hope.

They searched for a winner, not settling for a draw, but Samp substitute Samuel Eto'o went closest to deciding matters with a late shot which was turned wide by Pierluigi Gollini.

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