A penalty was enough for Roma to finish fourth

Lorenzo Pellegrini’s penalty goal was enough for Roma to beat bottom side Sampdoria (1-0) and move up to fourth in Serie A, ahead of arch-rivals Lazio, after their third straight who won the Serie A.

In Luigi Ferraris, José Mourinho beat Dejan Stankovic, who he had as a player at Inter from 2008 to 2010 and was hired by historic Sampdoria to replace the sacked Marco Giampaolo. The Serbian coach made his debut the day before with a 1-1 win in Bologna but now his team has no arguments or character to try to achieve what is their first win of the season.

A VAR penalty

The game started with a decisive and controversial move. Barely seven minutes had passed when central defender Alex Ferrari deflected a cross with the ball slightly touching one hand and, although the referee didn’t notice it, he ended up awarding a penalty after consulting the VAR.

Lorenzo Pellegrini converted the maximum penalty with a perfect shot from the top and from then on the match did not offer any more remarkable moments in the first half that was not very fluid due to constant interruptions and very flat as both teams were barely on their feet. the areas while the goalkeepers became mere spectators.

Rome, without suffering

Roma, despite the absence of the injured Paulo Dybala, did not suffer to preserve the result and their defense did not make concessions to a Sampdoria without offensive resources where the Murcian and former ‘gianlorosso’ Gonzalo ViIlar played in the middle.

In the second half Roma offered more and had several chances to close the match. In the 55th minute, he went one-on-one with Emil Audero, who blocked his shot.

Zaniolo enters and has a sentence

In the 70th minute, the Genoese goalkeeper also frustrated Nicolò Zaniolo, who had just entered the field, and soon after the Italian midfielder starred with a great run down the left after losing Omar Colley, but crossed him too far before Audero left ( 75′ ).

In extra time, Zaniolo himself had a goal disallowed after escaping and leaving Audello sitting, but he started his gallop offside.

Roma, except for some sporadic flashes from Sampdoria, were in control of the game at all times and added three points that put them in the Champions zone without having brilliant football but effective to the maximum and solid in defense.