Pescara thrashed Virtus Entella 5-2 at the Stadio Comunale on Saturday afternoon in Serie A.
Marco Sansovini helped himself to a hat-trick and Birkir Bjarnason and Federico Melchiori grabbed a goal apiece to score Pescara’s five goals whilst Eric Lanini and Gaetano Masucci were on the scoresheet for Entella.
The home side were also reduced to ten men as Michele Russo was shown two yellow cards.
It took the Delfini just 12 minutes to open the scoring when Francesco Zampano went on a storming run and played the ball to Sansovini inside the box and the striker, with his back to goal, turned and stroked the ball into the bottom corner.
Just two minutes later the striker doubled his tally. A mistake from goalkeeper Andrea Paroni as he passed the ball to Sansovini and he took the ball to the side before curling an effort into the top corner from outside the box.
The hosts pulled one back in the 19th minute thanks to Lanini. A ball was lofted over the defence and the forward expertly side-footed his volley across goal into the bottom corner.
It could have and should have been 3-1 to Pescara minutes later as Matteo Politano went on a mazy run but his shot was thwarted, but Bjarnason, with the goal gaping fired over the bar.
Bjarnason made amends just before the break though as he headed home at the back post following a cross from Sansovini.
Just past the hour mark the away side made it 4-1 and it was a hat-trick for Sansovini. Politano played a neatly weighted pass through to the striker who calmly slotted home.
A minute after the restart it got worse for Entella as they were reduced to ten men. Russo pulled back Melchiorri as he was in on goal to get a deserved second goal.
Four soon became five as Melchiorri grabbed himself a goal. Zampano did some good work on the wing before whipping in a cross and the striker flicked the ball elegantly into the top corner.
The Diavoli Neri did get themselves another goal to make the score-line a bit more respectable. A corner was floated in and Masucci powered his header into the top corner.
The game ended there, with a 5-2 win for the Delfini who now sit in 9th place level on points with Spezia and Perugia in the play-off places.
With Bologna losing 2-0 last night to Vicenza, there was a chance for Carpi to extend their lead at the top.
Unfortunately for them they couldn’t grab a win against a stubborn Pro Vercelli side and drew 0-0, extending their lead to six points, instead of the desired eight.
Bottom of the table Crotone pulled off an impressive 1-0 win against promotion-chasers Livorno thanks to a goal from their talisman Camilo Ciano.
The Rossoblu remain bottom, but are now level on points with Varese and Catania.
Frosinone leap frogged the Amaranto into fifth place after they defeated Catania away 2-1.
The Elefanti took the lead just before half-time through Lucas Castro, but a second-half comeback from the visitors which saw Federico Dionisi and Daniel Ciofani net won the game for them.
Avellino were denied going into second place by Ternana after the two teams drew 1-1.
A Luigi Castaldo penalty put the Lupi in front but an equaliser from Nicolas Avenatti just ten minutes later ensured his team came away with a point.
Elsewhere, Virtus Lanciano and Cittadella drew 2-2 in what was an action-packed first half.
Citta took the lead early on thanks to a penalty from Alessandro Sgrigna but Lanciano turned the game on its head by the 24th minute when Antonio Piccolo and Mame Thiam struck.
Francesco Stanco grabbed an equaliser for the visitors ten minutes before half-time, but the scoring would end there and the game finished with honours even.
Perugia and Spezia, two teams with aspirations of being in the play-offs at the end of the season faced eachother with the former winning 2-1.
Valerio Verre and Matteo Ardemagni put Perugia 2-0 up before half-time. Then, Spezia had Matteo Bianchetti sent off for his second yellow card.
Minutes later, the ten men of Spezia pulled a goal back thanks to an own goal from Edoardo Goldaniga. The Grifoni held on for a win, despite having Ahmed Hegazy dismissed at the death.
In other matches, lowly Varese fell to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Brescia and Bari pulled off a narrow 1-0 win at Modena.
Brescia took an early lead through Ahmad Benali, but Martino Borghese levelled the scoring in the 25th minute.
In the 72nd minute, Nicolo Quaggiotto grabbed the winner for his side to send them away from the relegation places. Varese meanwhile, stay on 28 points, level with Crotone at the foot of the table.
Lastly, Kingsley Boateng struck to give Bari a 1-0 win over Modena, who had Luca Nizzetto dismissed. The win means that Bari are now three points from the play-offs, despite being in 12th.
