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.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS