It was a good night for those in danger of relegation on Thursday night in Serie B, with Brescia’s 3-2 win at Pescara the stand-out result.
A hat-trick from Daniele Corvia won the game for the Leonessa, cancelling out goals from Ledian Memushaj and Birkir Bjarnason.
It didn’t take long for the hosts to take the lead though. Matteo Politano jinked inside and out before firing across the face of the box and from close range Memushaj couldn’t miss, bundling it over the line.
The response from Brescia was immediate and it was 1-1 in the sixth minute of the game. Racine Coly put in a teasing cross which was met by Corvia at the back post, sliding in to fire it home.
Pescara were back in front in the 16th minute in what was an eventful start to the game. Marco Sansovini received the ball in the box and dragged his shot, but it was met by an unmarked Bjarnason to tap in from a few yards.
The visitors had a great chance to equalise soon after. A long ball from the defender set Alessio Sestu in on goal but one-on-one with the keeper he curled his effort wide.
The start of the second half saw a bit of domination from Brescia as two shots went narrowly wide of the post, one of them tipped wide by a despairing Vincenzo Fiorillo.
From the resulting corner, Corvia glanced a header whilst facing the other way and it flew into the corner to level proceedings once again.
The home side could have taken the lead for the third time in the game if it wasn’t for a great save from Michele Arcari. The ball fell to Bartosz Salamon around the penalty spot, he controlled and fired a volley at goal which was palmed away by Arcari.
Then, with just under 20 minutes left on the clock the away side took the lead for the first time in the game. Sestu played an intelligent through ball to Corvia, who controlled and then lofted the ball over the onrushing Fiorillo.
With five minutes remaining, Denis Tonucci was shown a straight red card for a needless kick out on an opponent but his side held out for an important victory to take them closer to avoiding relegation.
Elsewhere, Catania triumphed 3-0 away at Varese to all but condemn the Leopardi to relegation.
Riccardo Maniero and Lucas Castro grabbed two goals before half-time to give the Elefanti a comfortable lead.
Then, in the second half Moses Odjer received his second yellow card to reduce Catania to ten men, but they still managed to score a third through Emanuele Calaio to secure a valuable win.
Crotone managed to defeat sixth-placed Spezia 2-0 to put themselves to within one point of safety.
Stefano Padovan put the Rossoblu in front inside the first ten minutes and then in the 19th minute, Francesco Migliore of Spezia received two quick-fire yellow cards to reduce his side to ten men.
Padovan got his second of the game just before the hour mark to seal the game for the hosts.
Trapani got an important 3-1 win against Frosinone to keep their hopes of the play-offs alive.
Filippo Falco put the Granata in front in the seventh minute to give them a half-time lead but Matteo Ciofani levelled in the 57th minute.
Antonino Barilla put Trapani back in front and then with eight minutes left on the clock Cristian Terlizzi netted a penalty to claim the three points.
There was a thrilling game at the Stadio Domenico Francioni as Latina beat Cittadella 3-2 to move up to 14th place
Federico Gerardi put Citta 1-0 up at the break with a strike in the 20th minute, but in the 60th minute Latina were level thanks to an own goal from Andrea Signorini.
Five minutes later, Latina had turned the game on its head when Sofiane Bidaoui netted. The visitors were back on level terms in the 72nd minute though as Tomasz Kupisz scored.
Another five minutes later, Latina were back in front thanks to Hernan Dellafiore. To pile more misery on Citta, they were reduced to ten men in injury time as Agostino Camigliano was dismissed.
Perugia moved themselves up to seventh place as goals from their two forwards Matteo Ardemagni and Diego Falcinelli secured a 2-0 away win at Virtus Entella.
A second-half brace from Fabio Ceravolo gave Ternana a vital 2-0 win against Bari which now moves them up to 15th place but still only a point away from going into the relegation places.
A goal just past the half-hour mark from Antonio Zito gave Avellino a 1-0 win over Modena to move the Lupi to within four points of the automatic promotion spot, currently occupied by Bologna.
Livorno defeated Virtus Lanciano 1-0 thanks to a goal from Andrey Galabinov and have now gone above Pescara to occupy the last play-off position.
Pro Vercelloi got an important draw against third placed Vicenza but it could have been better for the Leoni.
Ettore Marchi missed a penalty in the first half, but then made amends just before the hour mark to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
And then in the 72nd minute, Vicenza got a penalty of their own which was converted by Andrea Cocco and the teams both left with a point apiece.
