Bologna narrowly beat Cittadella 1-0 at the Stadio Pier Cesare Tombolato on Saturday afternoon in Serie B.
A first half strike from Karim Laribi was enough to separate the two sides and move Bologna to within five points of Carpi, the league leaders.
It was the hosts who had the first opportunity as Mattia Minesso reacted first to a loose ball and tried his luck from range but the ball sailed over the bar.
Then, at the other end, Laribi cleverly lofted the ball through to Matteo Mancosu but his attempted lob of the keeper went wide of goal.
The Rossoblu were on top and could have took the lead again as a cross was whipped in towards Daniele Cacia, but the big striker could only divert his header over the bar.
Citta possibly had the best chance to score of the game when Claudio Coralli played the ball to Antonio Barecca but from close range his effort was thwarted by Ferdinando Coppola.
The deadlock was broken in the 41st minute as Adam Masina played the ball back to Laribi who smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
The home side were close to equalising at the beginning of the second period. Minesso took the ball past an opponent and lashed it at goal but saw his effort fly off the inside of the post and away.
Bologna nearly doubled their lead moments later but Mancosu’s volley from the edge of the box was well saved by Andrea Pierobon.
Citta were pressing for an equaliser but their best chance was missed by Alessio Benedetti. The midfielder bustled his way past the Bologna defence but then shot straight down the throat of the keeper, when he had enough time to pick his spot.
The game ended there, with a 1-0 win for Bologna who stay in second. Cittadella move in to the relegation play-off places.
There was a thrilling affair when Frosinone and Pro Vercelli met at the Stadio Matusa, with the hosts coming away with a 3-2 win.
They were 2-0 up at half-time thanks to goals from Danilo Soddimo and Robert Gucher, but at the restart the visitors pulled one back through Davide Luppi.
Soddimo got his second of the match on the hour mark to give his side some breathing space but Pro Vercelli pulled another back in the final ten minutes when Luca Castiglia netted.
Frosinone held on for the win to stay in contention for the automatic promotion places.
Spezia beat Modena 3-2 in another goal-fest in which Spezia were also reduced to ten men.
The away side took the lead early on when Francesco Fedato struck but were pegged back before half time by Nene for Spezia.
Then, ten minutes into the second half Davide Zoboli put Modena back in front.
The Aquilotti pushed and got their leveller in the 87th minute to set up a grand finale. In the closing moments, the hosts took the lead thanks to Nene’s second of the match, but then also saw Antonio Luna get dismissed.
Meanwhile, Perugia pulled off an impressive 2-1 away victory at Brescia.
Denis Tonucci put Brescia in front just before half time but minutes into the second half Matteo Ardemagni levelled the match.
Then, with less than quarter of an hour left of the match Diego Falcinelli scored the winner for Perugia to send them up to 10th place.
Elsewhere, Latina defeated Ternana 2-0 for a surprise win that lifts them out of the relegation places.
Goals from Masahudu Alhassan and Federico Viviani was enough for the away side to claim victory over the ten men of Fere who had Cesar Falleti sent off.
Bari comfortably beat Virtus Lanciano 2-0 at the San Nicola, with both teams being reduced to ten men.
First half goals from Cristian Galano and Massimo Donati sealed the win for the Biancorossi.
Vicenza nicked a 1-0 win against bottom of the table Crotone thanks to a 72nd minute strike from Stefano Giacomelli.
There were also two scoreless draws on Saturday afternoon.
Firstly, table toppers Carpi couldn’t get past the solid defence from Virtus Entella and now their lead at the top has been tightened.
Then, Varese earned a vital point away at Trapani to keep up their hopes of staving off relegation.
