Second placed Frosinone defeated Vicenza 1-0 at the Stadio Matusa on Sunday afternoon in Serie B.
Both teams were reduced to nine men in what was a fiery affair, but the Ciociari came out on top thanks to a goal from Mirko Gori.
It was Vicenza who started the brightest, as the ball was laid off to the edge of the box to Federico Moretti but he sliced his shot wide of the goal.
Then Davis Curiale missed two great opportunities for the hosts. Firstly his tame header was easily saved by Nicolas Bremec and then the striker reacted first to a loose ball inside the six yard box but his attempt was thwarted again by Bremec who closed down the angle well.
Frosinone had another great chance before the break as Daniel Ciofani turned and shot at goal, but his effort went a whisker wide of the far post.
Going into the break it was very much a one sided game with Frosinone pinning back the Biancorossi.
Just before the hour mark, the home side missed a great opportunity to take the lead. Danilo Soddimo headed the ball to Luca Paganini and the midfielder blazed over the bar from just inside the box.
Frosinone were knocking on the door and they finally found the breakthrough in the 64th minute through Gori. The midfielder hunted down his opponent, dispossessed him and then ran on to the loose ball and placed it into the bottom corner.
Two minutes later, Vicenza were reduced to ten men when Matteo Gentili received his second yellow card for pulling his opponent back. Then, moments later, Frosinone were also shown a red card when Soddimo went down easily in the box to get his second yellow.
The goalscorer Gori was harshly given his marching orders in the 90th minute when he was adjudged to have handled the ball to make it three red cards for the match.
The away side, who were in the hunt for an equalising goal sent up their keeper Bremec for a corner which was cleared and as Frosinone broke, Bremec was racing back and took out the Frosinone player to make it two red cards apiece.
Frosinone stay in second place and still nine points behind Carpi, who comfortably beat Catania 2-0.
Second half goals from Antonio Di Gaudio and Roberto Inglese was enough for the Biancorossi who are now on 43 points.
Level in second place with Frosinone are Bologna who earned a vital 2-1 away win at Virtus Lanciano to keep up with the pace at the top.
Despite Antonio Piccolo missing a penalty in the opening two minutes for the hosts, Lanciano did take the lead in the 50th minute through Gaetano Monachello.
But, a brace from Daniele Cacia turned the game on its head and gave the three points to the Rossoblu.
In the early game, Spezia pulled off an impressive 3-0 away victory at Bari to go a point behind Frosinone and Bologna.
Youngster Joseph Minala was sent off for the home side just before the break when the scores were even as he received his second yellow card.
Goals from Marko Bakic, Dario Canadija and a penalty from Andrea Catellani won the game for the Aquilotti, who also had Luca Ceccarelli dismissed with the score at 1-0.
Perugia ended their run of eight games without a defeat when they beat lowly Cittadella 3-1.
Diego Falcinelli and Marco Fossati put the Grifoni two goals in front but Citta pulled one back just after the hour mark through Claudio Coralli.
The game was put of doubt in injury time as Valerio Verre struck to make it 3-1 to Perugia.
Elsewhere, Varese gave themselves some breathing space from the bottom of the table when they beat Ternana 2-0.
Goals from Francesco Luoni and Neto Pereira gave the Leopardi the three points against the ten men of Ternana who had Biagio Meccariello dismissed.
A brace from Riccardo Maniero meant that Pescara pulled off an impressive 2-1 away win at high-flyers Livorno.
Andrey Galabinov gave the Amaranto the lead but Maniero struck two goals to turn the game around for the Delfini as they hope to break into the play-offs.
Pro Vercelli leap-frogged today’s opponents Trapani and go into the play-off positions after defeating them 1-0.
Trapani were reduced to ten men in the ninth minute of the match as their goalkeeper Lys Gomis was shown a red card.
Striker Ettore Marchi got the all important goal on the half-hour mark to earn his side the three points.
Elsewhere, Avellino defeated Brescia 2-0 thanks to goals from Luigi Castaldo and Mariano Arini, putting the Lupi in 5th place.
At the bottom, Virtus Entella and Crotone played out a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Comunale.
Andrea Mazzarani put Entella in front, but Crotone hit back through Claiton. The Squali stay in the relegation positions whilst Entella hover above them.
Honours were also even in the game between Modena and Latina as neither team could find a breakthrough and the game ended goalless.
