Sampdoria 2 : 5 Napoli - Napoli hit goal trail in Genoa

Posted Sunday, May 11, 2014 by PA

Napoli carried on from where they left off in the final of the Coppa Italia final last weekend, beating Sampdoria 5-2 to prove they still have plenty of motivation at the end of the season.

Although Rafael Benitez's men can no longer catch second-placed Roma, and were already certain of finishing third, they nevertheless turned on the style in Genoa.

Duvan Zapata put the visitors in front before Lorenzo Insigne made it two. Eder pulled a goal back for the Blucerchiati, but Jose Callejon soon restored Napoli's two-goal advantage.

Marek Hamsik and an own goal from Shkodran Mustafi gave the Azzurri a comfortable lead before Pawel Wszolek grabbed a late consolation.

Both sides had good chances before Vincenzo Fiorillo turned a shot from Fernandez onto the crossbar and the ball fell for Zapata to tap in from close range.

While Fiorillo had looked good in stopping Fernandez's shot, he made a mess of dealing with Insigne's shot which made it two in the 27th minute.

Samp pulled a goal back four minutes later when Eder beat Pepe Reina with a fine low shot which went in off the inside of the right-hand post.

The hopes of a recovery were short lived, though, with only two minutes passing before Callejon made it 3-1 with a free-kick which he curled round the wall, although once again, Fiorillo could probably have done better.

Maxi Lopez then wasted two good chances towards the end of the first half of an open game at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Napoli increased their lead immediately in the second half with Zapata crossing to the far post for Hamsik to score from close range.

In the 62nd minute, things went from bad to worse for Sampdoria as Mustafi, just days after being named in Germany's preliminary squad, did not send off a strong application for a place in the final squad selection as he turned Callejon's cross into his own goal.

The game was effectively over, but Wszolek wanted some personal glory with a goal which beat substitute goalkeeper Antonio Doblas, whose first task in a Napoli shirt was to collect the ball out of the back of his own goal.