Hajduk feel heel of destiny

UC Sampdoria left Croatia with a 1-0 win after their goal led a charmed life early on in their UEFA Cup second qualifying round first leg at HNK Hajduk Split.

Deflected winner
Argentinian Hugo Campagnaro deflected Sergio Volpi's free-kick into the Hajduk net with his heel after 42 minutes to give the Genoa side the only goal of the game just two minutes after coming on as a substitute for the injured Pietro Accardi. However, Hajduk were left to rue their luck - and their finishing - after creating a number of presentable chances.

Off the woodwork
A crowd of 35,000 at the Poljud Stadium sensed a goal early on as Hajduk were awarded an indirect free-kick in the penalty area after ten minutes. Romanian midfielder Florin Cernat drove the set-piece against the crossbar before Srdjan Andrić saw his deflected shot hit the woodwork too. Four minutes later another Cernat effort from the edge of the box struck the post.

Bartolović misses
Sampdoria managed to restore calm and received further evidence that the fates were on their side as Campagnaro helped Volpi to beat Vladimir Balić with a free-kick just before the interval. Hajduk might have evened the scores in the second half, substitute Mladen Bartolović missed two good chances from inside the penalty area in the space of one attack while Ante Rukavina's 78th-minute strike was saved by Luca Castelazzi.

Decent save
The visitors seemed content to settle for a 1-0 win and did not push too hard for a second goal but nearly got one anyway as substitute Vicenzo Montella, on loan from AS Roma, drew a decent save from Balić late on. Nonetheless Samp are in a strong position for the home return in a fortnight.