Sampdoria made the most of defensive mistakes by Siena to strengthen thier claims on a place in European competition.

Sampdoria had cemented their place on the fringes of European qualification with successive wins and they made it three in a row despite a late comeback from the home side.

Daniele Gastaldello opened the scoring in the third minute when he punished a mistake by goalkeeper Gianluca Curci.

Nicola Pozzi doubled the lead with 13 minutes remaining after a mix-up between Curci and Francesco Pratali.

With eight minutes remaining Siena got back into the game with a goal from Massimo Maccarone but it was not enough to earn them something from a fixture they had gone into hoping would help them in their efforts to move away from the foot of the Serie A table as they fight to avoid relegation.

The visitors were denied in the second minute when Curci made a fine save from an angled header by Pozzi from Daniele Mannini's cross.

But Curci made the wrong choice a minute later when he left his line to claim a high ball and could only watch as Gastaldello headed the ball into an empty net.

Sampdoria were lucky not to be pegged back in the fourth minute when Maccarone headed against the bar after a mistake by the visitors' keeper Marco Storari.

The remainder of the first half was a quite affair and only came to life with seven minutes to go before the break as Ferreira Reginaldo fired in a fierce shot which Sampdoria keeper Storari did well to save.

Siena attacked again on the stroke of half-time but failed to find the target with a header from Emanuele Calaio after Maccarone had sent in an inviting cross from a corner.

Calaio was again guilty of a bad miss five minutes into the second half when he missed the target. With only keeper Storari to beat he volleyed wide of the goal.

Siena kept up the pressure but again allowed a good chance to be wasted just after the hour mark.

Storari was again forced to make a fine save from Abdel Ghezzal as the home side looked in vain for an equaliser.

The home side continued to press and Reginaldo saw his right foot shot across goal deflected just past the far post.

The visitors punished Siena for their missed chances when they doubled their lead with 13 minutes remaining.

Curci was again found out as he and Pratali both failed to clear the danger. That allowed Pozzi to double the advantage for Sampdoria.

Maccarone got some reward for his hard work when he reduced the deficit with eight minutes to go.

The forward controlled the ball well and finished with a fine left foot shot across Storari which the Sampdoria keeper could do little about.

But it was the only reward for Siena who paid the price for a series of missed chances and remain rooted to the foot of the table, while Sampdoria enhanced their chances of qualifying for Europe thanks to some clinical finishing.