Chievo picked up a valuable victory in the relegation battle with a 4-2 win over Livorno at the Stadio Armando Picchi on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Livorno’s goals came from Luca Siligardi and a Paulinho penalty however Alberto Paloschi’s hat-trick and a Cyril Thereau header gave the visitors an important victory.
Both sides went into the game in danger of relegation with Livorno in 18th place in the Serie A table and Chievo just two points above them.
The hosts were first to threaten when Marco Benassi delivered a free kick onto the head of Paulinho who could only direct his effort wide of Michael Agazzi’s goal.
This positive start paid off for the Amaranto as they opened the scoring after six minutes when a deep cross from the right was headed back across goal for Siligardi to nod into the net.
The lead didn’t last long however as Chievo levelled the score just three minutes later.
Matteo Rubin’s pass allowed Paloschi to spring the home side’s offside trap and the forward placed a low finish past Francesco Bardi for his 11th Serie A goal this season.
Paloschi then dribbled his way into the box a few minutes later but could only fire a fierce shot into the side netting.
On 22 minutes Perparim Hetemaj spurned a great opportunity to put his side in front when he found himself free in the area but he was unable to get a meaningful touch on the incoming cross.
The Gialloblu didn’t have to wait long to complete their comeback when Paloschi turned provider on 24 minutes finding Thereau with a cross from the right and the Frenchman made no mistake with his header to make it 2-1.
The game saw it’s fourth goal after 34 minutes when Dario Dainelli conceded a penalty for a clumsy challenge on Paulinho which the captain himself converted to level the score again.
The penalty wasn’t without controversy as several Chievo players felt the ball had gone out of play prior to the foul.
This didn’t deter the visitors however and as the half drew to a close Paloschi netted his second goal after good work from Hetemaj, finishing from close range off the Finnish international’s pass.
The half-time whistle sounded immediately after the goal leaving the score 3-2 in Chievo’s favour at the break.
Four minutes into the second half and Paloschi almost added his third when he ran unopposed from his own half into the Livorno penalty area but his effort was saved well by the onrushing Bardi.
The hat-trick was completed on 55 minutes when the 24-year-old blasted the second penalty of the game high into Bardi’s goal after Djamel Mesbah was adjudged to have committed a foul on Ivan Radovanovic.
Livorno struggled to create chances after this and Agazzi was rarely troubled in the Chievo goal with most of his second half work involving fielding long range efforts.
The Gialloblu were happy to see out the game for a vital 4-2 victory to open up a five point gap between them and their opponents in the battle to avoid the drop.
Follow Allan Eccles on Twitter: @bookedforsim
