Saturday 20th April
Cesena 1 – 1 Virtus Lanciano
Cittadella 1 – 0 Juve Stabia
Crotone 2 – 2 Reggina
Grosseto 0 – 3 Livorno
Novara 0 – 1 Modena
Sassuolo 2 – 1 Bari
Spezia 3 – 0 Empoli
Ternana 0 – 1 Varese
Vicenza 3 – 1 Pro Vercelli
Monday 22nd April
Ascoli 0 – 1 Padova
Verona 4 – 2 Brescia
A second win in the space of a week has seen Sassuolo close to within two wins of a guaranteed promotion into Serie A after they ground out a narrow win over Bari.
Domenico Berardi fired an early warning shot with a long range effort that crashed the underside of the bar before bouncing off the line, but it was not long before Sassuolo went in front. With 23 minutes played, Leonardo Pavoletti raced onto a Berardi through ball, sidestepped Diego Polenta and swept the ball into the bottom corner. Simone Missiroli almost doubled the advantage in the second half but volleyed against the post from an unmarked position, and it looked to have been a costly miss when Marino Defendi’s magnificent strike found the back of the net with 17 minutes left on the clock. However, just six minutes later, a long range free kick from Berardi proved too hot for Bari keeper Eugenio Lamanna to handle, and Emanuele Terranova bundled home the rebound to secure all three points.
Livorno continued to hold firm in second following a 3-0 win over already relegated Grosseto. It took the Tuscan side less than quarter of an hour to edge in front, with Paulinho racing on to a long ball forward before lifting a superb finish over the head of an outrushing Ivan Lanni. Grosseto were awarded a penalty shortly before half time when Simone Salviato handled in the box, but Gennaro Delvecchio’s woeful spot kick sailed harmlessly wide of the post. The home side continued to pour forward and were awarded a second spot kick when Federico Piovaccari was bundled over by Alessandro Bernardini, but a stunning save from Vincenzo Fiorillo saw the Grosseto forward denied. A third spot kick of the game went Livorno’s way, with Rolf Feltscher hacking down Paulinho before the Brazilian forward showed his Grosseto counterparts how it’s done. With Grosseto reduced to nine following the dismissals of Davide Biraschi and Delvecchio, Paulinho rounded off his hat-trick with a terrific curling strike into the bottom corner.
Meanwhile Verona made it a hat-trick of wins for the top three when they recovered from 2-1 down to record an impressive 4-2 win against play-off chasing Brescia. A frantic opening saw the visitors edge in front after just four minutes through Andrea Caracciolo, and though Jorginho levelled two minutes later, Caracciolo grabbed his second of the evening with 11 minutes on the clock. Brescia’s resolve held out until the hour mark, with Juan Ignacio Gomez once again levelling the score, while a Daniele Cacia brace either side of Alessandro Budel’s dismissal won it for the Gialloblu.
There were surprising defeats for both Empoli and Novara, with the play-off chasing sides falling to Spezia and Modena respectively. Mirko Antenucci set Spezia on course for a fourth win in five with a 13th minute strike from the edge of the box, while Stefano Okaka scrambled in a second shortly before half time. While Davide Di Gennaro profited from some woeful defending to put the result beyond doubt midway through the second half. Novara meanwhile failed to find the net for the first time in 15 matches and were dealt a first defeat in as many games as a result when Simone Gozzi headed Modena’s winner less than ten minutes into the second half.
With Brescia losing to Verona on Monday evening, Varese moved back into the final play-off place with a deserved 1-0 win over Ternana, as Neto Pereira clipped home an unusual winner from a tight angle early in the second half. Juve Stabia’s play-off aspirations meanwhile are fading fast after they were beaten 1-0 at Cittadella, with Samuel Di Carmine catching the Vespe cold two minutes into the second half to scramble in the only goal of the game.
Further down the table, a Lorenzo Del Prete own goal deep into injury time saw Reggina salvage a last gasp point away to Crotone. The Calabrians had taken the lead through Federico Gerardi’s penalty midway through the first half, but two well taken spot kicks from Denilson Gabionetta looked to have set Crotone on course for a much needed win. However, they were denied by Del Prete’s glancing header with virtually the last action of the game, though there was an argument that the goal should not have stood given Del Prete was under clear obstruction from Gianluca Freddi. Relegation continues to be a very real threat for Ascoli meanwhile after they were beaten 1-0 by Padova on Monday, with Ze Eduardo grabbing the only goal of the contest midway through the first half.
Draw specialists Virtus Lanciano continue to flirt with the drop after they surrendered an early lead away at Cesena. A terrific looping effort from Antiono Piccolo had the Abruzzo outfit ahead after just six minutes, but a determined effort saw Cesena draw level through Davide Succi’s volley on the hour mark. Finally, Pro Vercelli will return to the third tier after just one season, with their relegation confirmed by a 3-1 defeat to Vicenza. Valeri Bojinov’s glancing header had the hosts in front after 13 minutes, while Dominque Malonga nodded in a second ten minutes into the second half. A terrific strike from Tommaso Bellazzini made it three, and though Pietro Iemmello pulled one back with a fine strike 20 minutes from time, it proved to be merely a consolation.
Player of the Week: Paulinho (Livorno)
Livorno’s consistently excellent Brazilian forward weighed in with one of his best performances of the season to edge the Tuscan side ever closer to promotion. A terrific lobbed finish, a clinical penalty and a classy curling effort saw Paulinho take home the match ball, and in addition to giving his side three vital points, moved him to within one goal of Matteo Ardemagni at the top of the goal scoring charts.
Goal of the Week: Tommaso Bellazzini (Vicenza)
The goal that set the seal on a vital 3-1 win over Pro Vercelli was an absolute beauty, with Dominique Malonga lifting a looping ball forward into the path of Bellazzini, who in one swift movement controlled with his right before slamming an unstoppable effort into the roof of the net from the edge of the area. Having looked dead certs for relegation, two wins inside a week have given the Venetian outfit a fighting chance of survival, putting them to within six points of safety with four games remaining.
Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KevertonFC_84
