Sampdoria 0 - 1 Cagliari: Blucerchiati voice discontent

Posted Wednesday, February 02, 2011 by PA

Sampdoria fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Cagliari amid the protests of the Blucerchiati fans against the sale of Giampaolo Pazzini and Antonio Cassano this winter.

A stunning individual goal from Radja Nainggolan in the 37th minute earned the Sardinians all three points at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

The result was Samp's third defeat in a row and their president Riccardo Garrone was forced to hear the fans' anger at his sale of their biggest assets last month, with Cassano having joined AC Milan and Pazzini Inter Milan.

It could have been a better night for Samp had Daniele Mannini not shot over the crossbar from just eight yards out early on.

That miss was enough to stir the fans' frustrations and Cagliari sensed their chance to turn this to their advantage.

Nainggolan found a moment of inspiration to score the only goal of the game in the 37th minute.

He juggled the ball past two defenders on the sideline and then dribbled inside past two more before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the top right-hand corner of the goal from over 20 yards out.

Samp were furious that Cagliari goalkeeper Michael Agazzi was only shown a yellow card when he raced from his line and clashed with Jonathan Biabiany early in the second half.

The Cagliari goalkeeper had to leave the field anyway with concussion and he was taken straight to hospital for further tests.

Cagliari had the better chances to add a second with Andrea Lazzarri's shot saved and then Andrea Cossu's follow-up was deflected wide.

Nene then missed a golden opportunity to settle Cagliari's nerves as he missed an open goal after being found alone by Cossu.

He seemed to get the ball caught up between his legs when he simply needed to side-foot it in, but the error did not prove costly as Cagliari held on for all three points.

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