Dessena decider breaks Sampdoria spell

Daniele Dessena's second-half strike gave UC Sampdoria a welcome win after FK Partizan's Lamine Diarra had cancelled out Emiliano Bonazzoli's opener for the visitors.

Italian woes
Dessena scored what proved to be the winner ten minutes after the interval as Sampdoria put their unhappy record in Serie A behind them for the night. With just four points from their first seven league games, Walter Mazzarri's side were lifted as Bonazzoli gave them a 20th-minute lead, but Serbian league leaders Partizan were back on terms by the interval.

Equalising blow
Sampdoria scored with the first meaningful action of the game, as striker Antonio Cassano surged down the right wing and crossed for Bonazzoli to finish from 10 metres. Partizan were not overly troubled, though, and Veljko Paunović and Juca both missed chances before Diarra's right-footed shot dipped past Luca Castellazzi in the 34th minute to pull the hosts level.

Dessena decider
Both sides had chances to go into half-time leading but Partizan goalkeeper Mladen Božović saved from Gennaro Delvecchio and Castellazzi fielded Ljubomir Fejsa's 20-metre shot. Sampdoria duly regained the lead soon after the break with Dessena shooting into the bottom-right corner from right side of penalty area.

Castellazzi saves
Dessena almost grabbed his second of the night but his header from Marius Stankevičius' cross was saved by Bozović, and the goalkeeper was also called into action to force a Paolo Sammarco effort wide. Castellazzi then earned his team-mates' gratitude, denying Ivan Obradović's strike and proving equal to a stinging long-range shot from Juca.