Let’s not talk about a great escape just yet. But the fac is that Sampdoria are showing signs of life. On Saturday afternoon, they beat fellow strugglers Hellas Verona 3-1 in a nervous and eventful encounter at Marassi.Former Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini scored two goals to the disbelief of home fans, who saw their team win for the first time since May 2022. It took them nearly a year of agony to find the winning formula – but with a combination of quality, good fortune and Gabbiadini’s inspiration, they got the win that has at least lifted them off the bottom place in Serie A. They’re now a point above Cremonese but still four points below today’s opponents. What’s even more important, they are still nine points below safety. So if they want to stay clear of relegation – Stankovic must make winning a habit rather than an exception from their usual routine.Gabbiadini leads Sampdoria to their second win in 2023 👏#SampVerona pic.twitter.com/IiqoNfV86b— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) March 19, 2023 Gabbiadini scored a double in space of just nine first-half minutes and boosted Doria’s confidence, but nothing ever goes smoothly for this team. Hellas’ Argentinean forward Adolfo Gaich had two goals disallowed after separate offside incidents spotted by VAR. The first happened on 61 minutes, and the second just five minutes later. The nerves started to creep in and home fans had painful flashbacks to their numerous late defeats from this season when Davide Faraoni halved the deficit for Verona with just a minute to go.##NAJAVA_MECA_7108255##The referee signalled seven minutes off added time as the blood drained from Sampdoria’s faces. But they were left off the hook and allowed to breathe again after Alessandro Zanoli made it 3-1 with the last touch of the game.Stankovic won the Scudetto and the Champions League as a player, but securing survival with this Sampdoria team would be considered one of the most significant feats of his career. They’ve got 11 more games left.SERIE A – ROUND 27FridaySassuolo – Spezia 1-0 (0-0)/Berardi 71 pen/Atalanta – Empoli 2-1 (0-1)/De Roon 58, Hojlund 86 – Ebuehi 44/SaturdayMonza – Cremonese 1-1 (0-0)/Carlos Augusto 69 – Ciofani 61/Salernitana – Bologna 2-2 (1-1)/Pirola 7, Dia 64 – Ferguson 11, Lykogiannis 74/Udinese – Milan 2-1 (2-1)/Pereyra 10, Beto 45+6 – Ibrahimovic 45+3 pen/SundaySampdoria – Hellas Verona 3-1 (2-0)/Gabbiadini 24, 35, Zanoli 90+8 – Faraoni 89/Fiorentina – Lecce (in progress)Torino – Napoli (in progress)20:00: (2.80) Lazio (2.95) Roma (3.05)22:45: (2.10) Inter (3.40) Juventus (3.90)***odds are subject to change***
