Italian serie A match report: Sampdoria v Cagliari

Samuel Eto'o opened his goalscoring account for Sampdoria in a 2-0 home victory over Cagliari that boosted the Ligurian club into a share of fifth place.

The well-travelled striker swapped Everton for Serie A in January but had not made much of a direct impact for Champions League chasers Samp until Saturday's second half of action at the Marassi.

Lorenzo De Silvestri's header put relegation-threatened Cagliari on the backfoot before the break and the always-lively Eto'o put his new employers out of sight with a classy finish on 72 minutes.

The game was already beyond Gianfranco Zola's visitors by the time defender Danilo Avelar saw red, and a third straight defeat leaves them three points adrift of 17th-placed Atalanta and safety.

Samp dominated the early exchanges and might have scored in the sixth minute when Eder stacked a header over the bar.

Following a curious moment of fair-play from Eto'o, who kindly tied Cagliari goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic's laces before a goal-kick, Luis Muriel came within inches of turning Eder's low cross into the net.

The Sardinians threatened briefly as Emiliano Viviano jumped to keep out Avelar's cross-shot, but it would be Samp who opened the scoring in the 33rd minute.

At a Muriel corner, De Silvestri darted into space and beat Brkic with a well-placed header.

Samp might have doubled up before half-time but Brkic raced off his lane to snatch the ball off Eto'o's feet following a clever through-ball from Pedro Obiang.

The Cameroonian should have done better with a gilt-edged chance when play resumed, his scuffed attempt to convert Eder's pass fizzing just past a post.

Still the hosts keep pushing, though, and after Obiang saw a snapshot repelled by Brkic in the 70th minute, Samp doubled their lead.

It was a first goal in Blucerchiati colours for the 33-year-old Eto'o, who controlled the ball on his chest before twisting his body to drive beyond Brkic and in at the far post.

Buoyed by scoring for the first time since October, the former Chelsea striker celebrated by cheekily borrowing a photographer's camera on the touchline.

Cagliari's faded challenge suffered a critical blow in the 82nd minute as Avelar picked up a second yellow card and his marching orders for fouling Eder, confirming all three points would stay in Genoa.