Away day curse strikes again: Samp hit for four at Crotone

An afternoon to forget for Sampdoria, who were comfortably beaten 4-1 by Crotone at the Stadio Enzo Scida this afternoon.

It was a strangely listless performance from the Blucerchiati, who never really got into the contest, even after Duvan Zapata offered a glimmer of hope with his goal in the 70th minute.

A lapse in concentration from Gian Marco Ferrari in the sixth minute, which allowed Marcello Trotta a shot on goal that Emiliano Viviano saved, was an ominous portent of things to come. Indeed, from the resulting corner, the ball dropped to the Crotone striker, who lashed a half-volley into the back of the net.

Doria struggled to find a way into the match and kept on offering up chances to the hosts. In the 21st minute, Jacopo Sala chased Andrea Nalini into the area and clattered into the back of him, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Viviano kept his remarkable penalty-saving record alive against Trotta but could nothing about the rebound, Adrian Stoian getting to the ball quickest and doubling Crotone’s lead.

A nightmare first half was compounded eight minutes from the interval, when Trotta controlled a loose ball in the area and poked home. Although originally ruled out for offside, VAR overturned the referee’s decision.

It took until the 70th minute before Samp showed any sign of life, when Zapata chested a high ball down and thrashed home from around ten yards out. The goal, his second in as many matches, could have been the springboard for an interesting last 20 minutes, but this clearly wasn’t to be our day.

Crotone eased to the final whistle without further danger and even extended their lead when Matias Silvestre capped a torrid afternoon off by deflecting a goal-line clearance via his goalkeeper and into the net.

Crotone 4-1 Sampdoria (HT: 3-0)

Scorers: Trotta 6 + 37, Stoian 21, Zupata 70, Silvestre (og) 85

Crotone (4-3-3): Cordaz; Faraoni, Ceccherini, Capuano, Martella; Stoian (Barberis, 63), Mandragora, Benali; Ricci (Sampirisi, 83), Trotta, Nalini (Simy, 70).
Subs not used: Figliuzzi, Viscovo, Diaby, Pavlovic, Zanellato, Markovic, Crociata, Ajeti.
Coach: Zenga.

Sampdoria (4-3-1-2): Viviano; Sala (Praet, 59), Silvestre, Ferrari, Murru; Barreto, Torreira (Capezzi, 54), Linetty; Ramírez (Zapata, 75); Caprari, Quagliarella.
Subs not used: Belec, Tozzo, Andersen, Alvarez, Strinic, Regini, Verre, Kownacki.
Coach: Giampaolo.

Referee: Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni.
Assistants: Alessandro Lo Cicero, Lorenzo Gori.
Fourth official: Marco Serra.
VAR officials: Rosario Abisso, Giulio Dobosz.

Yellow cards: Murru 41, Linetty 65, Martella 90+1.

Additional time: 3+4 minutes.