Day 34th - May 17th, 1998
"The revenge of the Czech wolf"
Roma-Sampdoria 2 - 0
May 16th, 1998 - 4.30 pm - Olympic Stadium - Rome
Roma beat Sampdoria and left Lazio three points behind them in the standings. This win means something more than the fourth place and the right to play in the UEFA competition in the next season. Zeman's team was looking for a kind of revenge over Lazio which seemed unbeatable until a couple of months ago and that won all the derbies played in this season (two in championship and two in Italy Cup). It also was a good chance for Zeman to show Lazio that he didn't deserved to be fired last season Sampdoria is a good team, nothing more. Their striker, Vincenzo Montella, who scored more than any other Italian this season may change a match every minute, but Roma wanted the three points and started working on it at once. The first danger for Sampdoria's goalkeeper happened in the 6th minute when he was forced to slap away a precise header by Marco Delvecchio. Two minutes later Chimenti, who replaced for the third match in a row the injuried Konsel, was good at saving a powerful shot by Boghossian. Totti, who once again was worth the price of the tickets, went close to score in the 12nd but his shot after a free kick hit the bar. Chimenti had another chance to show his skill two minutes later saving a stunning free kick shot by Mihajlovic. In the 24th Roma took the lead. An individual move by Di Francesco was stopped by Pesaresi who failed to clear the penalty area properly, the ball reached Totti who beat Ferron with a stunnig right-footed volley. Sampdoria never troubled Roma's goalkeeper until the end of the first half while Roma went close to score again with Totti, Di Francesco and Paulo Sergio.
The show went on in the second half, with Roma that wasted a lot of chances. In the 51st minute an individual move by Di Francesco ended with a shot by the midfielder which went close to the bar. In the 70th Cafu's shot was slapped away by Ferron, Gautieri got the ball and served Delvecchio whose shot went wide over the bar. Two minutes later anothe show by Totti who left behind a couple of defender and dribbled Ferron but his angled shot hit the post. The only dangers from Sampdoria came in the 75th minute when Chimenti was good at saving a shot by Vergassola from the close range and once again four minutes later when Roma's goalkeeper saved on Montella all alone in the middle of the penalty area. In the last minutes Roma forced Sampdoria in their own half. An awesome individual move by Delvecchio drove the opponent back line mad, the forwarder served an easy ball in the middle for Totti whose shot was cleared on the goal line by Pesaresi. In the 90th minute Delvecchio put his name on the score-sheet heading in goal a free kick by Cafù from the right, and he could score his second goal two minutes later with a header on a Gautieri's cross but the bar denied him this right satisfaction. The championship was over, Roma ended fourth placed right behind Juventus, that got the title, Inter and Udinese and had the best attack of the tournament.
