Saturday proved to be an important day for local rivals Genoa and Sampdoria in the Serie A. After the final whistle, the score line was 3-0 in favor of Genoa and yet this was not to be a precise reflection of the match. Three red cards and two penalties later, Genoa gained the victory that propelled them into position 5 in the table standings.
Although Genoa beat Sampdoria, they are still trailing their rivals albeit with a slim margin. Sampdoria are currently in 4th place just a point above Genoa. You can now understand just how important this game was to both these teams.
Genoa took the lead in the 10th minute when Omar Milanetto sent the ball past Luca Castellazzi after his team-mate Rodrigo Palacio had been brought done in the area. Genoa proved to be a thorn in the flesh of the Sampdoria defense as they hit the post twice from attacks that should have resulted in goals.
However, their momentum was significantly reduced when Guiseppe Biava foolishly handled a Sampdoria assault that was marshalled by Antonio Cassano. The referee handed him a second yellow that eventually led to his sending off.
After the break, Genoa seemed to pick up from where they left. Just 8 minutes into the 2nd half and Marco Rossi doubled the home teams advantage when he beat the offside trap to beat Castellazzi with a right-footed shot. The second player to be sent off was Sampdoria’s Marco Rossi – not to be confused with Genoa’s player who bears the same name.
Again it was the case of a second yellow card and the teams were now even player for player. In the 75th minute, Sampdoria were put out of their misery when Milanetto beat Castellazzi from the penalty spot after substitute Sekratis Papastathopolous (wow aint that a mouthful) was brought down by Reto Ziegler. In the 88th minute Sampdoria’s Fabrizio Cacciatore was sent off after a horrific tackle on Ivan Juri. However, by this time Sampdoria could not reverse the result.
