Roma return to top four after winning at Sampdoria

Roma secured an important away win at Sampdoria courtesy of Lorenzo Pellegrini’s early penalty.

The solitary strike proved enough for Roma to take all three points from Dejan Stankovic’s Sampdoria and go into fourth place.

The Giallorossi went into the clash on the back of a 1-1 draw in Seville against Real Betis in the UEFA Europa Cup on Thursday.

The win here makes it their third consecutive Serie A victory, which puts them in fourth place, leapfrogging Lazio and Udinese.

 Sampdoria experienced their worst possible start as Roma took the lead. The Gialorossi were awarded a penalty after Alex Ferrari’s wide arm deflected Tammy Abraham’s cross. Lorenzo Pellegrini fired the penalty into the near top corner, scoring what proved to be the winner. Coincidentally,  it was the captain’s 200th Serie A appearance.

Pellegrini had the chance to double Roma’s lead after his header from Abraham’s cross was straight at the goalkeeper. Also, his sensational cross-field pass to release Stephan El Shaarawy only earned Roma a corner.

Sampdoria made a bright start after the restart, as Nicola Murru managed to hook an improbable ball back across the face of the goal from the by-line. Unfortunately, none of his teammates were ready for the tap-in.

Abraham did a flick to release a pass the first time that sent Andrea Belotti through, but Emil Audero rushed off his line to parry using his legs.

Zaniolo, who came off the bench, forced a save with his angled drive. Although he was offside with his first attempt, he did better next time. He shrugged off Omar Colley, took on another defender, and drew out Audero. The finish let him down as it flashed across the face of the goal and inches wide.

Belotti failed to hit the target from six yards, as Bartosz Bereszynski did just enough to put him off from Bryan Cristante’s cross.