Roma's fading Serie A hopes were dealt a blow after losing to Sampdoria at the Stadio Olimpico.

Roma dominated possession early on, with the first chance falling to Miralem Pjanic, whose low shot was kept out by Sampdoria keeper Emiliano Viviano.

The home side had the ball in the net after 18 minutes, but Seydou Keita's acrobatic effort was correctly ruled out after the midfielder strayed offside following Alessandro Florenzi's cross.

Roma continued to threaten, with Viviano denying both Gervinho and Francesco Totti, but the hosts could not break down Sampdoria as the sides headed into the break.

Totti almost scored immediately after half time as Florenzi found the 38-year-old at the back post, but the Roma captain was unable to steer his attempt towards goal.

However, it was the visitors who broke the deadlock, with former Lazio star Lorenzo De Silvestri stabbing home from close range following Samuel Eto'o's short corner.

Sampdoria doubled their lead after catching Roma on the counter-attack, with Luis Muriel's initial attempt rattling the post before falling to the Colombian once more, this time slotting past Morgan De Sanctis.

Roma's miserable night was compounded when Keita was sent off for a second yellow after applauding the referee, having picked up his first yellow moments before.

The result leaves Roma second in the table, while Sampdoria remain in touch with Napoli and Fiorentina as they push for a European place.