Roberto Soriano struck twice as visitors UC Sampdoria edged Genoa 3-2 in a thrilling city derby on Tuesday that was delayed on two occasions due to fans throwing smoke flares.
Genoa had won only one of the previous six editions of the Derby della Lanterna and Gian Piero Gasperini’s men were again left second best at the clubs’ shared Stadio Luigi Ferraris as Sampdoria held on amid an exciting finale.
Sampdoria only claimed their first win under new coach Vincenzo Montella prior to the festive break, but the visitors fully deserved their 2-0 lead at the interval thanks to Soriano’s opener and Eder’s 39th-minute strike. Soriano struck again just after the break, but Sampdoria were lucky to claim all three points after Leonardo Pavoletti twice reduced arrears late in the second half to claim his first brace in Serie A and inspire the hosts to a grandstand finish.
The win moved Sampdoria up to 11th place ahead of the remaining midweek fixtures yesterday, while Genoa remain in 17th, just one point above the drop zone.
Gasperini’s men have now lost five on the trot, prompting speculation about his future.
“This season we have to think about staying up,” he said. “After five straight defeats, it’s obvious that has to be our focus. We made some glaring mistakes tonight, which made it difficult to get back into the match, but we never gave up.”
Veteran striker Antonio Cassano, making a rare start for the visitors, played a role in all three of Sampdoria’s goals.
The former Italy international’s through-ball was deflected into Soriano’s path, and the latter smashed a low volley past Mattia Perin for an 18th-minute lead.
Cassano was involved again when Carlos Carbonero won back possession in his own half to power down the right. Carbonero’s cutback was poorly cleared and fell to Eder, who sidestepped his marker to slot the ball inside Perin’s near post.
Genoa’s woes deepened only four minutes after the restart, Cassano providing an assist for Soriano that the forward swept easily into the net to claim his second, prompting the ire of the home fans.
The fixture had already been delayed by several minutes before kickoff because of the poor visibility caused by smoke flares, and Soriano’s second prompted Genoa fans to throw several flares onto the pitch, prompting the intervention of firefighters.
Yet the incident appeared to fire up the hosts, who launched a rousing comeback only to be denied a share of the points at the death.
Pavoletti reduced the arrears in the 69th minute when he rose above the Samp defence to fire a header into the net, and moments later Darko Lazovic saw his low drive go just wide of the post.
Pavoletti grabbed his second nine minutes from time when he headed into an empty net from close range after Emiliano Viviano mistimed his attempted interception after rushing out of his goal.
Genoa spurned several chances for a late leveler, Viviano blocking Serge Gakpe and Pavoletti, before palming the ball off the line when a shot ricocheted dangerously in front of goal.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but