Roma was able to defeat Dejan Stankovic’s Sampdoria and earn all three points thanks to Lorenzo Pellegrini’s early penalty, moving them up to fourth place.
Roma held Real Betis to a 1-1 draw on Thursday in Seville, but they were aware that a third straight victory in Serie A would put them in a commanding fourth place, ahead of Lazio and Udinese. There were injuries to Paulo Dybala, Zeki Celik, Marash Kumbulla, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Ebrima Darboe. Rock bottom Samp, which earned a point on new coach Stankovic’s debut against his mentor Jose Mourinho, was without Jeison Murillo, Harry Winks, and Manuel De Luca.
Nicol Zaniolo was still placed on the bench in favour of the new double-striker partnership despite being suspended for the Europa League and thus well-rested.
Samp got off to the worst possible start when Alex Ferrari used his wide arm to deflect Tammy Abraham’s cross with his fingertips, resulting in a penalty shot from Lorenzo Pellegrini into the near top corner. It was a fitting way to commemorate the captain’s 200th Serie A outing.
Following a goalkeeper-straight header from Abraham’s cross, Pellegrini brilliantly released Stephan El Shaarawy, but Roma were only awarded a corner.
Nicola Murru managed to miraculously hook the ball back across the goal from the byline after the break, but none of his teammates were prepared for the tap-in.
Andrea Belotti was about to advance when Emil Audero rushed off his line to parry with his legs after Abraham flicked on a pass the first time.
On the 63rd minute, just outside the penalty area, Valerio Verre was about to receive a cross when El Shaarawy used his outstretched arm to deflect the ball. VAR was unable to intervene because it was outside, but the referee overlooked what ought to have been a free kick and a yellow card. Due to his protests, Stankovic was booked.
When Zaniolo came off the bench for Roma, his angled drive immediately forced a save even though he was also offside. He performed better after dodging Omar Colley, engaging another defender, and drawing Audero out, but his shot flashed inches wide and across the goal face.
From six yards out, Belotti mishit after Bartosz Bereszynski did just enough to divert him away from Bryan Cristante’s cross.
During stoppages, Zaniolo had the ball in the net after latching onto a pass from Rick Karsdorp to get around Audero, but he had started from an offside position. Under pressure, Abdelhamid Sabiri misjudged a Bereszynski cross.
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