Sampdoria snatched a last-gasp point against Lazio with Manolo Gabbiadini, but Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s back-heel assist for Ciro Immobile was the highlight.
The hosts brought in Fabio Quagliarella in search of their first goal of the season, having held Juventus to a 0-0 draw. Luis Alberto stepped into the starting XI for Lazio, who were fresh from a 3-1 win over Inter, but Pedro had an ankle knock.
Felipe Anderson flashed an early cross-shot across the face of goal, but Emil Audero got a hand to it, also preventing the Ciro Immobile tap-in.
Audero did even better when flying to palm a Felipe Anderson snapshot out of the far top corner from the edge of the area.
Lazio did finally break through with sheer class, as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic with an audacious flying back-heel flick in midfield sent Immobile clear to beat Audero one-on-one.
It should’ve been 2-0, but first Audero made a stunning save on Mattia Zaccagni’s lob, then Immobile fired the rebound onto the upright of an empty net.
There was huge controversy on the half-hour mark when Fabio Quagliarella went down in the box sandwiched between Adam Marusic and Patric. The referee viewed it again on the VAR monitor, but decided Marusic treading on Quagliarella’s foot was insufficient to warrant a penalty.
Quagliarella got into a dangerous position from Valerio Verre’s assist only to be denied by a desperate Ivan Provedel save at the near post.
Felipe Anderson went off with an ankle knock and Bartosz Bereszynski saw his angled drive charged down by Patric.
Samp started to pour forward in the final minutes, but Provedel was equal to the Francesco Caputo cross-shot.
It paid off in stoppages, as Gabbiadini made the run at the right time to meet the Rincon through ball and prodded the finish into the near bottom corner for Sampdoria’s first goal of the season.
Lazio had a chance to win it, but Milinkovic-Savic only glanced his head to a cross.
Sampdoria 1-1 Lazio
Immobile 21 (L), Gabbiadini 92 (S)