| Greetings and welcome to The Football Net. We love talking balls, do you? You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. Therefore you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, take part in the banter, vote in polls and enjoy fun competitions such as fantasy football and the betting exchange. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join us today on our football forums to talk balls with us! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Pazzini keeps 10-man Samp alive | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 18 2010, 09:45 PM (346 Views) | |
| Ricky | Aug 18 2010, 09:45 PM Post #1 |
![]()
Ambition
|
Giampaolo Pazzini's late goal keeps 10-man Sampdoria's Champions League hopes alive in a 3-1 defeat to Werder Bremen. Pazzini was unlucky, having a goal ruled offside and hitting the upright, but Stefano Lucchini's red card was disastrous. The Blucerchiati were aiming for their first foray into this competition since 1992 and largely had the same side as last season, bringing in Mimmo Di Carlo for Gigi Del Neri. Daniele Mannini and Fernando Tissone represented attacking choices in midfield. Massimo Volta got the surprise nod at right-back. Werder Bremen sold star player Mesut Ozil to Real Madrid yesterday, so brought in Aaron Hunt. Over 2,500 fans travelled to Germany for the first leg. Samp had a great chance after four minutes, as Angelo Palombo flicked up a free kick and Giampaolo Pazzini got away from his marker, but turned the header wide of the upright from nine yards. A Torsten Frings strike took a deflection to whistle wide, but on 14 minutes Sampdoria had the ball in the back of the net. Pazzini was correctly flagged offside as he prodded a Franco Semioli cross in at full stretch. Gianluca Curci was making his debut and parried a fierce Hunt snapshot from distance, then punched a dangerous cross off his head. On the half-hour mark Claudio Pizarro's shot was deflected into the air, landing for a Hugo Almeida looping header on to the top of the crossbar. Curci also smothered a flicked-on Pizarro effort. Daniele Gastaldello was decisive in taking the knock-down off Per Mertesacker's foot as he pulled the trigger from eight yards. Just shy of half-time, Curci was at full stretch to palm away a powerful Bargfrede right-foot screamer that was heading into the far bottom corner. Bremen broke through at the dawn of the second half. Tissone's poor clearance on the edge of the box found Clemens Fritz in space and he smacked a stunning strike with the outside of his left boot. It arrowed into the far top corner past a helpless Curci. Werder's tails were up and the ever-dangerous Hunt flashed a daisy-cutter across the face of goal. Sampdoria came so close to an equaliser on 58 minutes. Cassano and Daniele Mannini combined with some wonderful one-touch football to spread the play for Pazzini, whose angled drive beat Tim Wiese to rebound off the inside of the far post! The ball rolled into the grateful arms of the goalkeeper. Under-21 international midfielder Andrea Poli replaced Tissone and Stefano Guberti came on for Mannini. Pazzini was again flagged offside when one-on-one with the goalkeeper, a very tight decision on Semioli's pass. However, Sampdoria went down to 10 men when Stefano Lucchini received his second yellow card for pulling back Prodl's shirt. It wasn't a big tug, but enough for the referee to take action and point to the spot. Torsten Frings stepped up and buried it, even though Curci guessed the right angle. Marius Stankevicius replaced Semioli in the final substitution, pushing Volta further up the wing, but moments later it was 3-0. It was a fine team move, as Hugo Almeida's backheel flick released Pizarro to go clear on goal and lift the finish over Curci from eight yards. Guberti curled a snapshot just wide of the far post. There were some penalty appeals for a Bargfrede handling offence, but the referee judged it to have hit his chest rather than the upper arm. A bobble put off Guberti, but the ball continued to Stankevicius for a rocket that skimmed the woodwork. Cassano was irritated by the official when booked for simulation in midfield. Guberti again went close with a smart solo run and shot over the far top corner of the net, as 10-man Samp did not give in. The effort paid off, as in the final minute Stankevicius floated a cross from the right for Pazzini's splendid soaring header into the near bottom corner. His marker did not jump in front of him, so the Italian timed his leap perfectly. In stoppages it was almost 4-1, but when Curci pushed a cross into the middle of the box, there were no Bremen players to tap in the loose ball |
|
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Serie A · Next Topic » |




7:50 AM Jul 13