Dinamo 4 - 2 Sampdoria (381833439)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 18795 had shown up at Thomas Skhuravy Arena for the match. Manuel Danko was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Hasan Taşan and Dino Capatonda. The derby had been the talk of Genova all week and fans of both teams could be seen throughout the stadium. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Dinamo. Starters: Iacomino - Sottili, Hardy, Staver - Kasal, Spálovský, Eklemović , Holzherr, Piccolini - Adank, Linden.

Sampdoria tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. Lineup: Nichifor - Bouw, Ropiak - Allais, Limroth, Gallina, Guerriero, Kannari - Vino, Cassizzi, Pittaro.

T. Adank gave Dinamo the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 O. Nichifor was caught napping as B. Hardy lifted a ball over him following a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keeper's arms. N. Linden could have increased the lead after 11 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. Dinamo put themselves up 2 - 0 when N. Linden broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. After this, you could see that the players of Dinamo were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. The home side's P. Spálovský came close to extending the lead 22 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but O. Nichifor managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. 2 - 0 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Dinamo, with 61 percent of the ball.

The Dinamo players could smell victory in the air. T. Adank wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for A. Solheim after 46 minutes. N. Linden became the new Dinamo captain. The Dinamo coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 55 minutes into the game. In an effort to secure the lead, Dinamo changed their tactic after 55 minutes. R. Kannari's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert A. Cassizzi was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for Sampdoria. 2 - 1. After 70 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and N. Linden gave the Dinamo supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 3 - 1. Sampdoria needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 71 minutes P. Gallina made way for J. ter Linden. Dinamo's L. Piccolini got himself booked for a foul. After 72 minutes Dinamo's N. Staver limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Dinamo's M. Holzherr increasing the lead to 4 - 1. With 82 minutes played, Sampdoria's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to F. Pittaro he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 4 - 2. Dinamo claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 62 percent.

M. Holzherr performed admirably for Dinamo. On the other hand, B. Iacomino's play was disheartening. Sampdoria's best player was F. Pittaro. A. Limroth turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 2.