Sampdoria moved up to fourth in the Serie A table by beating Inter Milan 1-0 in their clash at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris this evening.
Luis Muriel had the first clear sight of goal for the hosts when he was picked out by a long pass over the top, before shifting the ball onto his left foot and blazing a strike narrowly over.
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It was Inter who threatened next and after being picked out inside the box, Mauro Icardi could only head Xherdan Shaqiri's cross over the bar.
Both teams were struggling to get in behind their opponents' defences, but the dangerous Muriel threatened with a long-range strike that headed just over.
Following a goalless first half, Inter almost broke the deadlock just moments after the interval, but Icardi's curling strike from just inside the box hit the top of the bar.
They created another decent opening minutes later with Fredy Guarin driving in a powerful effort that was turned behind by Emiliano Viviano.
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Shaqiri then fired narrowly wide of the far post and Icardi headed over, as Inter looked to make their dominance count.
Despite a positive start to the second half, Inter fell behind in the 65th minute when Eder crashed a long-range free kick beyond the reach of Samir Handanovic and in off the post.
Eder came close to scoring another free kick soon after, but this time he smashed the ball inches over the bar.
Inter pushed hard for an equaliser, but they were unable to create any further chances as Sampdoria saw the game out to claim the points and boost their European aspirations.
Alex Meyers
