Highlights of Roma's 1-0 Win Over Sampdoria

After a rocky September that saw Roma lose three out of five matches, the Giallorossi are experiencing a modest rebound as we wind our way through October. With wins against Inter Milan and Lecce in Serie A, and a face-saving 1-1 draw against Real Betis in the Europa League last week, Roma avoided a complete free fall.

Thanks to their busy schedule, José Mourinho and Roma hosted Sampdoria in the first of two Monday night matches in Serie A. Despite being on opposite ends of the table, Roma didn't exactly bowl over the competition this evening in Genoa, mustering only seven shots while seeing only 41% of the ball. Admittedly, Sampdoria managed only one more shot than Roma despite holding nearly 60% of the ball, so this wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement for Italian football.

And as luck would have it, none of that mattered. With both sides still feeling one another out, Roma caught a lucky break when Alex Ferrari deflected a Tammy Abraham cross with his right hand. After a quick VAR check, Roma were awarded a penalty, which Lorenzo Pellegrini buried in the upper right-hand corner.

While the chances didn't exactly flow after that, Andrea Belotti and Nicolo Zaniolo had multiple opportunities to finish off Sampdoria in the second half but were either stymied by the keeper or couldn't convert.

In the end, Pellegrini's penalty was all Roma needed to take three points on the road and vault back into the top four.