Luis Muriel earned Sampdoria their share of the points from a 1-1 Serie A draw at Fiorentina.
La Viola had hoped to use the home match against struggling opponents to relaunch their bid for European football and Federico Bernardeschi put them on the right track in the 37th minute.
The young Italy striker drove the ball into the box from the wing, fooling both his team-mate Davide Astori and Samp goalkeeper Christian Puggioni as it bounced inside the far post.
Three minutes before the hour mark Samp levelled. Muriel raced forward to meet Vasco Regini's defence-splitting pass and managed to get his head to the ball before his marker could intervene.
ends