Sampdoria 1 - 2 Lecce - Ten-man Samp put to sword

Posted Sunday, April 10, 2011 by PA

Lecce struck another blow in their bid for Serie A survival with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Sampdoria in Genoa.

David Di Michele put Lecce ahead in the 39th minute before Ruben Olivera made it 2-0 shortly after the hour mark.

Massimo Maccarone gave Sampdoria a 69th-minute lifeline but the hosts, who later had midfielder Daniele Mannini sent off for a second bookable offence, failed to get an equaliser.

The win was Lecce's second straight after their upset of Udinese last weekend.

The result leaves the Giallorossi 15th, three points clear of the drop zone with six games remaining.

Samp, who had mustered just one win in their previous 13 games, dropped to 16th, and just one point above the bottom three.

Sampdoria's Andrea Poli tried his luck from outside the area early on but his effort went just wide.

Di Michele then fed Olivera and his eight-yard shot was kept out by Sampdoria goalkeeper Gianluca Curci.

The home goalkeeper then made another good save midway through the first half when clearing Djamel Mesbah's left-footed strike.

Samp could have taken a 31st-minute lead but Maccarone saw his six-yard shot kept out by Lecce goalkeeper Antonio Rosati.

Lecce went in front after Samp failed to clear a corner. The ball fell to Di Michele and he struck from eight yards past Curci.

Nicola Pozzi should have levelled matters before half-time but fired over the crossbar from a good position.

Samp had a chance to equalise after the restart when Poli played in Stefano Guberti but his close-range effort was blocked by Rosati.

Just when Samp were playing at their best, Lecce struck in the 66th minute.

Curci could do nothing as Olivera's right-footed shot from the heart of the area took a deflection off Samp defender Gilberto Martinez and went into the back of the net.

The hosts reduced the deficit three minutes later as Guberti passed to Maccarone and his left-footed strike from 10 yards beat Rosati.

Despite playing the match one man down from the 72nd minute, Samp surged forward and twice had the chance to clinch a point.

With 15 minutes remaining, Angelo Palombo fired over the crossbar from the edge of the box and the same player could have handed Samp a share of the spoils deep into stoppage time but his header from Jonathan Biabiany's cross was met by a crucial save from Rosati.