Week four threw up some scintillating clashes in Lega Pro this week from Venezia against Vicenza in Girone A to Lecce against Catanzaro in Girone B.
There were goalfests in Pisa and in Como, whilst Pontedera and Albinoleffe continued marching on in determined fashion. Lega Pro certainly continued on with its trend of seeing the big names flounder as the minnows prospered.
The weekend’s action started on Saturday evening in Girone A when Vicenza travelled to take on the Venetians. This game kicked off in the Stadio Pier Giovanni and featured some high profile names for the away side such as keeper Nicola Ravaglia, midfielder Mattia Mustacchio and ex-Chievo forward Simone Tiribocchi. Despite the experience in the team they came up against a resolute Vicenza side who played some good football and despite going a goal down bounced back to grab a late win thanks to ex Inter starlet Riccardo Bocalon. Venezia move up to sixth whilst Vicenza slip to a disappointing ninth.
Como versus Südtirol was the game of the day in Girone A as it provided five goals, seven yellow cards and a sending off all whilst in the superb back drop of Lake Como. Antonio Giosa grabbed the winning goal for the home side and despite a late comeback spearheaded by Alessandro Campo Como held on. Both teams languish in mid-table and will need to improve defensively if they are to progress this term.
Elsewhere in the division Albinoleffe gained top spot after defeating Pro Patria thanks to a goal from ex Atalanta midfielder Michael Girasole, Pro Patria now slumped to their fourth straight league defeat although only 853 turned out for the disappointment. Pro Vercelli slipped into second place after squandering a two goal lead against Feralpisalo, the grandfather of Italian football will be disappointed that they made their faithful fan at the Stadio Silvio Piola witness this implosion.
Reggiana continue to cough and splutter up the table but at least this performance was one they could be proud of, a 0-2 away win against Carrarese. Ex-Juventus youth player Elio De Silvestro got a great winning goal to cap off a fine display. Cremonese’s situation is a sour one, the team who used to ply their trade in the top flight in the 1990’s were found losing 1-2 at home to Savona, even Elvis Abbruscato could not salvage the draw.
Girone B was equally as exciting with and featured a team in free fall. Remember Lecce? The team that graced Serie A only a few seasons ago was now imploding. Even with Fabrizio Miccoli back at the team he supported as a boy, they floundered to a 1-2 defeat at home to Catanzaro.
Just under 4,000 turned up at the Stadio Via del Mare to witness the away side go ahead early on due to some terrible marking and a header that even Alessandro Marchi could not believe he had scored. Lecce levelled through a Dario D’Ambrosio and were on top of the game despite losing Miccoli to injury. The game changed when Lecce went down to ten men for a second bookable offence and soon after conceded. Giordano Fioretti’s superb left foot volleyed was cruelly celebrated by only eight away fans but his celebration was equal to Marco Tardelli.
Elsewhere in the division Pisa climbed into second place after beating Nocerina 5-2 at the Arena Garibaldi – Stadio Romeo . In one of the most enthralling games of the weekend Dominico Danti scored a goal that just has to be seen. Marco Van Basten would have been proud of the volley he blasted over the opposition keeper and was the goal of the week in both divisions.
In Grione B Pontendera and Pisa lead the pack whilst Lecce prop up the bottom of the table with Barleto also going into free fall. Perugia and Ascoli are other big names who are starting to look in trouble after defeats to L’Aquila and Grosseto respectively.
Once again it was another superb weekend of action with goals, red cards and goalkeeping mistakes being part of almost every game. Old names known in Serie A before failed to impress whilst the pretenders for promotion continued to impress. If next week is anything like this then it will continue to emphasise how much quality is in these divisions.
