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Sampdoria had not scored on their travels since Week 1, but comfortably crushed Cagliari.
Both sides were in dire straits going into this game, as the Sardinians were without a win in five, while Samp were heckled by their own fans after two straight defeats, including a midweek 5-0 home drubbing by Milan. Angelo Palombo and Hugo Campagnaro sat out bans for Cagliari, while the visitors missed Antonio Cassano, Pietro Accardi, Stefano Lucchini, Reto Ziegler and Gennaro Delvecchio.
Sampdoria's last victory at the Sant'Elia in Serie A was an epic 4-3 result in May 1997, followed by three defeats and a draw without a single goal scored.
Alessandro Matri's strike was deflected wide just inside the box off Cristian Zenoni, while at the other end Sergio Volpi had several shots from distance.
It was Samp who broke the deadlock on 33 minutes. Andrea Caracciolo held up the ball and Paolo Sammarco's dummy allowed Volpi to smash a fierce rocket from the edge of the area into the bottom near corner of the net. It was the Blucerchiati's first away goal since August.
Cagliari seemed to lose their way and the visitors made it 2-0. Claudio Bellucci provided the assist for Andrea Caracciolo, who had the first attempt charged down by Marco Fortin, but successfully scored the follow-up from close range.
Sampdoria were in total control and Bellucci's free kick was floated to the back post for Christian Maggio's looping header across the face of goal, but he was left totally unmarked.
The Blucerchiati continued to dominate, even after Pieri's dismissal on 68 minutes for a foolish tackle from behind on Italian international Pasquale Foggia.
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