Sampdoria 1 Empoli 1: Eder rescues a point for hosts

Eder rescued a point for Sampdoria as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with Empoli in Serie A on Thursday.

The Italy international struck his eighth goal of the season after 67 minutes at Stade Luigi Ferraris to cancel out Manuel Pucciarelli’s opener on the hour, earning Walter Zenga’s side a share of the spoils.

A quick start from the hosts almost saw an early goal for Eder as he lifted a throughball over visiting goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski, but the 28-year-old had mis-timed his run and was flagged offside.

He saw another strike chalked off after 12 minutes as he diverted a long-range effort from Edgar Barreto beyond Skorupski, but again the flag denied him the opener.

Both sides went close with chances before the break but the game had to wait until the hour before its first goal, the visitors taking the lead against the run of play.

As the Sampdoria defence backed off, Pucciarelli was allowed time to turn and curl a superb effort beyond the dive of Emiliano Viviano.

Their lead was short-lived, though, as Eder finally got his goal. Fernando won the ball in midfield, played the striker in and he fired low across Skorupski.

Assane Diousse El Hadji’s late dismissal for the visitors offered Sampdoria hope but Barreto and Alejandro Rodriguez both wasted chances to seal the victory.