Saponara: 'I had to celebrate with fans'

By Football Italia staff

Ricky Saponara admits his 99th-minute equaliser against Lazio was “incredible. I ran to the Sampdoria fans and they tore all my clothes off!”

The creative midfielder came off the bench and Samp thought they had lost it when Ciro Immobile converted a 96th-minute penalty for 2-1.

However, Saponara acrobatically flicked a long ball mid-air to lift it over Thomas Strakosha and his celebrations got a little out of hand.

“It was wonderful, as after the penalty we felt down, but on that last long ball, I just kept believing,” Saponara told DAZN.

“I saw the ball coming and closed my eyes on the lob, but when I opened them, I saw it had gone in. I ran to the fans behind the goal and they tore all my clothes off!

“It was such a great feeling to score right at the end like that. We were too timid in the second half and in the end paid for it, as Lazio were more aggressive. We were lucky too, eventually, so we’ll take the point.”

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