Juventus Stabia came to Genoa and took all three points from Sampdoria, winning 2:1 in Serie B on Friday evening. The visitors took the lead late in the second half after G. Tutino had equalised for the hosts from the penalty spot. And here's the thing — it was the kind of match where two or three moments decided everything, not the possession figures or the shot count.
Sampdoria started brighter and pressed forward, but Stabia's defence held firm. The first yellow card came at the 13th minute when Manuel Cicconi went in too hard. Davide Bettella picked up his booking just before the break at 22 minutes, and the half ended with Sampdoria taking the lead through G. Tutino's 45th-minute penalty. The hosts thought they had done enough to hold on.
By then the game had settled into something tighter. Stabia made changes at 65 minutes with D. Buglio coming on, and Sampdoria responded with three substitutions around the 70th mark — L. Candellone, K. Piscopo, and C. Pierobon all entered the fray. The visitors took the lead at 73 minutes when M. Bellich found the net, and just nine minutes later A. Di Nardo sealed it with the second goal.
The statistics tell a story the scoreline doesn't quite capture. Stabia had 55 per cent of the ball and completed 485 passes compared to Sampdoria's 405, but the hosts created the bigger chances — one big chance against two, yet only converted one of their six shots on target. Sampdoria had six shots on target and seven off target, while Stabia managed five on and nine off. Both sides were equally wasteful, really.
After two rounds of matches, Sampdoria sit 14th with one point from a draw and a defeat, while Stabia are 12th with a win and a loss. The result extends Stabia's unbeaten run to two games after a difficult start, and it leaves Sampdoria searching for their first victory following a mixed run of results.
Both teams showed they can compete when it matters, but neither can afford another slip if they want to move up the table. The gap between them is just one place, and one point — and in Serie B those margins are thin enough to cut on.
