The ten men of Ternana defeated Bari 1-0 at the Stadio San Nicola on Monday night in Serie B.
A strike from young Uruguayan forward Nicolas Avenatti sealed the three points for the Rossoverdi, who had Stefan Popescu sent off..
It didn’t take long for the away side to score their goal either as Avenatti netted in the 5th minute. Davide Gazzi put in a pin-point cross and Avenatti met it well with his head to give his side the lead.
There was nearly an immediate reply from Bari as Francesco Caputo got on the end of a Simone Salviato cross but Alberto Brignoli saved comfortably.
Daniele Sciaudone also had the chance to get his team on level terms but the midfielder sent his header well wide.
Just after the half-hour mark, Bari were closest to scoring yet. Massimo Donati got on the end of a corner but his header was deflected by team-mate Giuseppe De Luca and onto the crossbar.
Ternana went into the break in the lead but Bari should have at least had a goal, controlling the possession with 67%.
Another chance fell to the Biancorossi in the 57th minute, as Alen Stevanovic was found but his shot went wide of the goal.
The away side were reduced to ten men with 20 minutes left when Popescu received his second yellow card for a tactical foul.
Bari applied plenty of pressure on the Rossoverdi in the closing moments but the leaders were holding tight to keep hold of their lead.
In injury time, Alberto Brignoli effectively saved the result with a heroic save. The goalkeeper denied De Luca who was on the line and should have scored for the Galletti.
Despite late pressure from Bari, the ten men of Ternana took all three points and moved out of the relegation zone, but the Biancorossi will be kicking themselves that they didn’t at least get a point..
