Manolo Gabbiadini scored one and set up two to gift UC Sampdoria their first away victory against Hellas Verona for 45 years when they beat the Gialloblu 3-1 in Serie A on Monday.
The 23-year-old Italy international is a target for SSC Napoli in next month’s transfer window, but proved he still has plenty to offer Samp with an impressive display at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi.
“I don’t want to talk about possible deals,” Samp boss Sinisa Mihajlovic told Sky Sports Italia after the game. “This is an important win, but I know we can do better.”
Photo: EPA
The visitors took the lead in the 28th minute when a through-ball by Gabbiadini saw Rafa Marquez trip Eder in the box and receive a red. Eder sent Rafael the wrong way from the spot to score his fourth goal of the season.
Verona evened things up 11 minutes later with a goal accredited to Luca Toni, although Matias Silvestre may have gotten the final touch in a desperate attempt to clear.
However, the second half belonged solely to Sampdoria.
Stefano Okaka’s header from Gabbiadini’s cross restored Samp’s lead after 57 minutes and Gabbiadini made it 3-1 when he calmly converted Eder’s pass into a goal.
Sampdoria’s first win in Verona since 1969 moved them up to fourth in the table with 25 points, one behind city rivals Genoa. Verona are in 15th place.
“Yes, I knew that it had been a long time since our last win here,” Mihajlovic added. “I’m very proud of the fact that we have only lost one game so far, just like Juventus.”
Sampdoria will be testing their UEFA Champions League ambitions on Sunday at the Juventus Stadium.
Elsewhere in Serie A, AC Chievo Verona scored twice in the opening nine minutes to earn their second away win of the season by beating Cagliari 2-0.
Victory lifted Chievo out of the relegation zone and into 16th at the expense of the Isolani, stretching their unbeaten streak to five.
Riccardo Meggiorini put Chievo ahead after four minutes with a bicycle-kick and Alberto Paloschi doubled their lead five minutes later from inside the area.
Veteran Cagliari coach Zdenek Zeman used all three of his substitutions at the start of the second half in an attempt to shake things up, but the Sardinian club could only produce one decent chance, from Colombia forward Victor Ibarbo.
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