Latina downed Varese 1-0 on Monday night to move off the foot of the table at the Stadio Domenico Francioni in Serie B action Monday night.
Federico Viviani’s venomous second-half free kick was enough to see off a Varese side which struggled to create many opportunities on the night.
Varese were seeking their first road victory of the season in a battle of struggling clubs but were put the sword throughout the match by a motivated Latina side.
The home side began brightly with Michele Paolucci and Stefano Pettinari pinning back the Varese back line and inside of 10 minutes Paolucci was played through on goal but keeper Elia Bastianoni managed to snatch the ball off the Paolucci’s boot before the striker could manage a decisive touch.
It took a half hour before the Biancorossi launched a serious threat on Latina’s goal when Gianpietro Zecchin mishit a strike which landed inside the six-yard area but Neto Pereira inexplicably didn’t get the easiest of touches to score and the threat was snuffed out.
Latina controlled most of the play, the possession and the bulk of the scoring chances including a pair of shots saved Bastianoni before the break.
A pair of Latina substitutes made the difference at the hour mark when coach Roberto Breda inserted Andrea Petagna and Doudou Mangni to inject pace and was rewarded when Mangni served a tantalizing cross to Petagna whose shot was hit well but right at the Varese shot stopper.
The deserved go ahead occurred moments later when Roma loanee Viviani hit a free kick which went under the Varese wall past a surprised Bastianoni for his third tally of the season.
Substitute Arturo Lupoli had a few threatening chances for the visitors in the final 15 minutes but the Biancorossi were neither lucky nor brilliant on the day and deserved their loss which puts them squarely in the relegation zone a mere one point ahead of Cittadella at the bottom of the Serie B standings.
