Sampdoria 1 : 2 Palermo - Samp relegated

Posted Sunday, May 15, 2011 by PA

Sampdoria were relegated to Serie B after losing their penultimate match of the season 2-1 at home to Palermo.

The defeat saw them drift five points away from safety with a game to go.

Fabrizio Miccoli put Palermo ahead in first-half stoppage-time, but Jonathan Biabiany brought Sampdoria back into the match early in the second half.

Lecce's goal in their match at Bari meant the Blucerchiati had to win to stand any chance of staying up, and as they committed men forward, they conceded a second goal to Mauricio Pinilla to go down at the end of a season which started with them in the Champions League.

Sampdoria could not afford to lose and they looked keen early on as Massimo Maccarone took the ball around Lecce goalkeeper Benussi in the 10th minute, but the striker shot wide with Nicola Pozzi free in the middle.

Pozzi did have the ball in the back of the net on the half-hour mark, but his goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside.

Miccoli put Palermo ahead with a goal which meant so much to him on a personal level.

The Lecce-born striker helped his home-town club by firing across goal and into the far corner after being picked out in space by Josip Ilicic.

Biabiany gave Sampdoria hope four minutes into the second half when he leapt high to head in from Angelo Palombo's corner.

However, the joy was short-lived and the Stadio Luigi Ferraris fell silent just minutes later as news filtered through that Lecce had taken the lead against Bari.

Another goal from Pozzi was disallowed in the 77th minute, although the decision was correct this time.

News of Lecce's second goal arrived and Sampdoria had to commit men forward.

That left gaps in their defence and Abel Hernandez picked out Pinilla all alone in front of Manuel Da Costa, and he lifted the ball into the roof of the net to secure Palermo's win and send Sampdoria down to Serie B.