Fabio Quagliarella scores airborne backheel volley against Napoli
Fabio Quagliarella’s airborne backheel volley against Napoli is already in the running for Serie A goal of the season.
The former Italy striker athletically flicked the ball into the far corner to complete Sampdoria’s 3-0 win over visiting Napoli yesterday.
In the Genoa club’s first home match since 43 people were killed in the Morandi Bridge collapse in the port city last month, Quagliarella’s goal prompted celebrations inside the Luigi Ferraris stadium.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli, meanwhile, will need to figure out a better approach after falling behind early for the third consecutive match - even though it came back to win its first two.
Gregoire Defrel scored twice for Sampdoria in the first half, with Quagliarella playing a part in both goals.
A minute’s silence was observed before kickoff to honour the victims of the Aug. 14 bridge collapse, which occurred during a fierce storm.
Napoli dropped three points behind perfect Juventus.
In Florence, Fiorentina scored their second win to remain on maximum points. They beat Udinese 1-0 thanks to a 73rd minute goal from Marco Benassi.
In Bergamo, Atalanta were stunned before the interval whistle when Cagliari took the lead through a Nicola Barella goal.
In the second half, despite their insistence in attack, Atalanta failed to break down Cagliari’s massive defence.
Sassuolo beat Genoa 5-3 for their second victory from three matches.
They were shocked by visiting Genoa when the latter took a 27th minute lead through Piatek. But the home side hit back strongly to score four goals for a 4-1 half-time lead.
Kevin Prince Boateng scored the equaliser on 34 minutes and Pol Lirola gave them a 2-1 lead four minutes later. Khouma Babacar added a third on 41 minutes and Nicolas Spolli scored an own goal to add more woes for Genoa.
Gian Marco Ferrari then scored a fifth on 62 minutes. Genoa fought back to reduce the gap with a 70th minute goal by Goran Pandev and another from Piatek in added time.
Lazio obtained their first win and points of the new season when they beat Frosinone 1-0 at the Olimpico.
After a goalless first half, Luis Alberto broke the deadlock and it proved to be the winner for the Roman side.
In another match, Chievo and Empoli played out a goalless draw, while the match between Torino and SPAL was suspended for a long period in the first half because of severe rain. At the interval, it was 0-0. But on the 52nd minute, Torino took the lead through a goal by Nicolas N'Koulou.
It was Torino’s first win of the season, while SPAL suffered their first defeat.