Ramirez double and Praet strike down Real Vicenza in first friendly of the day

Sampdoria’s ‘A’ team beat Real Vicenza 3-0 in the first of two back-to-back friendlies against the same opposition on Saturday afternoon. The Blucerchiati were made to wait until the second (30-minute) half though, as the side made up of out-of-contract players kept the scores goalless for three-quarters of the match.

Eusebio Di Francesco continued with his pre-season experiments – Jacopo Sala returning to right-back and Jakub Jankto slotting into the other full-back berth – while Albin Ekdal took the reins in midfield with Gaston Ramirez joined Fabio Quagliarella and Gianluca Caprari in the front three.

It took the captain just two minutes to deposit the ball into the back of the net, though it was promptly ruled out for offside.

With the lads looking heavy-legged after their first few weeks of training, there was little else of note in the opening half.

Indeed, the deadlock wasn’t broken until midway through the second period, when Caprari played a fine ball over the top for Ramirez to bring down and fire home.

Quagliarella then made way for Mohamed Bahlouli and Dennis Praet took the captain’s armband. It seemed to inspire the Belgian too as he got Samp’s second just minutes later with a powerful finish from outside the box.

Bahlouli won a penalty on the stroke of full time, which Ramirez duly converted to make it 3-0.

Sampdoria A 3-0 Real Vicenza A (HT 0-0)
Scorers: Ramirez 46, 60 (pen), Praet 50.

Sampdoria A (4-3-3): Rafael; Sala, Ferrari, Murillo, Jankto; Praet, Ekdal, Linetty (Capezzi 50); Ramírez, Quagliarella (Bahlouli 46), Caprari.
Coach: Di Francesco.

Real Vicenza A (4-5-1): Martinez; Daguerre, Tsikrikas, Barrazza, Darko; Coronel, Di Cesare, Gattari, Perlog, Katseris; Ochoa.
Subs used during the game: Protopapas, Gomez, Carrara, P. Konstantinidis, Dighoriz, Loutsis.
Coach: Sculac.

Referee: Tagliaferri (Lovere).
Assistants: Arshad (Bergamo) and Tinelli (Bergamo).
Added time: 1+1 minutes.
Attendance: approx. 1,500.
Pitch: good condition.