Genoa claim derby honours with Samp romp

Genoa moved up to fifth in Serie A after thumping Sampdoria 3-0 in the Genoa derby on Saturday in an ill-tempered match in which three players were sent off.

Samp stay a point above their city rivals but it is Genoa who will have bragging rights in the city for the next few months.

Two penalties from Omar Milanetto and Raffaele Palladino and a third goal from Marco Rossi secured three points for Genoa.

Giuseppe Biava was sent-off in the first half for Genoa while Sampdoria’s Marco Rossi and Fabrizio Cacciatore were both dismissed after the break.

Genoa went in front on 10 minutes when Milanetto sent Samp goalkeeper Luca Castellazzi the wrong way from the spot after Swiss international Reto Ziegler had bundled over Rodrigo Palacio in the box.

On 22 minutes Ziegler’s bad start almost got worse as he turned a left-wing cross meant for Palacio onto his own post.

Castellazzi then tipped a Domenico Criscito header onto the bar 10 minutes before the break as Genoa dominated.

Two minutes later Giuseppe Sculli should have done better when one-on-one with Castellazzi, but with Palladino free and with an open goal, he chose to shoot himself and put the ball well wide.

On the stroke of half-time Biava was dismissed for a second booking after a stupid handball in the middle of the park.

Rossi then doubled Genoa’s lead on 53 minutes before his namesake on the Samp team was dismissed for a second booking on 67 minutes.

Ziegler gave away his second penalty of the evening after bringing down Sokratis Papastrathopoulos, with Palladino stroking home the spot-kick with 15 minutes left.

The game descended almost into farce in the dying moments as Cacciatore was given a straight red.

Earlier in the day mid-table Udinese beat lowly Livorno 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Antonio Di Natale and Antonio Floro Flores, leaving Livorno stuck in the bottom three.