Trezeguet 0-2
Cassano 1-2
Maggio 2-2
Del Piero 2-3
Montella 3-3
Samp and Juve Battle out Six-Goal Draw
Despite having nothing more to play for, Sampdoria and Juventus entertained their fans with a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Stadio Marassi.
Both Sampdoria and Juventus had reached their respective objectives going into this final match (Uefa Cup spot for Samp, Champions League qualification for Juve), which was played today instead of Sunday because of the Pope's visit to Genoa. It turned out to be a thrilling encounter, although neither team could celebrate a victory at the end.
From the start the match was surprisingly fast-paced and exciting. After just a minute David Trezeguet, who was playing up front alongside fellow top-scorer Alessandro Del Piero as usual, fired a volley from inside the area that went just wide of the goal.
Del Piero himself opened the scoring on 7 minutes with a left-footed shot from inside the area on an assist by Pavel Nedved. The Juve captain then won the first of two penalties for the visitors in the 16th minute, but allowed Trezeguet to convert it. At this point both strikers were on top of the goalscorers' chart with 20 goals.
After this stunning start by the visitors, Samp did not lie down. Six minutes after the second gal, Antonio Cassano reduced the deficit for Samp with a nice goal after a solo run on the left wing (22'), although he was somewhat lucky as his shot deflected off Christian Molinaro.
The Blucerchiati had the game under control now, although Antonio Mirante had to be quick to tip David Trezguet's header on a corner kick over the bar in the 34th minute.
Shortly before the break, the hosts equalised with a dynamite shot from outside the area by Christian Maggio (39') on which Juve's stand-in goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi did not look very convincing. He managed to redeem himself, however, just before the half time break, when Sampdoria were awarded a penalty as Giorgio Chiellini fouled striker Emiliano Bonazzoli in the area. Cassano stepped up, but his poor shot was through the middle and easy to save for Belardi.
The teams thus went into the half time break on a 2-2 score which reflected the course of a very open, entertaining first half.
In the second half, Samp looked like the better side early on, as Cassano continued to produce flashes of his magic. In the 49th minute, he found Bonazzoli with a brilliant pass, but Jonathan Zebina managed to clear the ball away for a corner. Five minutes later, he tried an audacious curling shot, but it went wide.
In the 57th minute, there was a chance for Juve as Guglielmo Stendardo was all alone to head in a corner from the left, but he sent the ball wide of the goal.
Two minutes later, midfielder Mohamed Sissoko was sent off with his second yellow card, leaving Juve behind with ten men on the pitch. Surprisingly enough, it were the Bianconeri who took the lead soon after that, as Del Piero won his second penalty of the game (foul by Pietro Accardi), and converted it himself (65'). 'Pinturicchio' will therefore be the new Capocannoniere unless Marco Borriello of Genoa scores a hat-trick tomorrow.
A minute after taking the lead again, Juve almost conceded another equaliser, as Maggio came close to scoring another stunning goal with a cross-shot in the 66th minute. And Cassano almost found his brace in the 72nd minute with a right-footed volley toward the far post which went just wide of the target.
Sampdoria managed to find a deserved equaliser ten minutes before the end, and it came from an unexpected corner. Cassano crossed the ball in from the left and found veteran striker Vincenzo Montella, who had been out of action since the start of the season but managed to squeeze the ball in to make it 3-3 with a nice first-time shot. He had just come on for Bonazzoli four minutes earlier.
In the final minutes, with Juve still down to ten men, Samp tried to find a prestigious victory and continued to attack, but there were no more chances for either side. The Bianconeri finish the season in 3rd place with a respectable 72 points, while Samp are 6th with 60 points.
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