Toni – Verona
Hellas Verona ran out 2-1 winners in wet conditions at the Stadio Citta del Tricolore on Sunday afternoon.
Thomas Manfredini opened the scoring with an unfortunate own-goal in the 50th minute, and Luca Toni’s chipped effort five minutes from time was enough to earn the Scaglieri their third away win of the season, despite Antonio Floro Flores’ late headed goal for the hosts.
It was raining steadily in Emilia Romagna, with the home side seeing the majority of the possession in the opening stages, and they also did well to close down their opponents when they didn’t have the ball.
Matteo Brighi made the first attempt on goal after Davide Biondini’s cross from the left, but his acrobatic overhead effort went well wide. Biondini was full of running in the first period, and was always positive and energetic when he ventured forward.
Sergio Floccari and Domenico Berardi then combined well in the area, but Berardi’s tame shot ended up in the arms of Rafael.
Emil Hallfredsson, who was having a good game for the visitors, had a thundering shot from just outside the box on the left after 20 minutes, which had ‘keeper Gianluca Pegolo worried, however it went just over the bar.
Bosko Jankovic was the next to try and break the deadlock, with a strike 10 minutes before the break which went well wide. Both teams struggled to muster a shot on target, in what was a first half devoid of clear cut chances.
Verona came out after the break on the front foot, clearly invigorated following the interval, and went in search of the opening goal.
Hellas defender Vagelis Moras almost put Floccari through shortly after the restart, waiting for Rafael to come and claim the ball on the edge of his box, debutant Neroverdi striker Floccari came inches from stealing the ball.
Fifty minutes into the game Thomas Manfredini then opened the scoring for the away team with an unfortunate own-goal – Jankovic passed the ball left to Hallfredsson, who crossed it into the box, and Manfredini slid to stop the ball reaching Toni, inadvertently putting it into his own net.
Juan Iturbe then missed a great opportunity to double the away side’s advantage, as Paolo Cannavaro slid brilliantly to deny the Argentine, who had raced past three Neroverdi defenders to get through on goal. From the resulting corner, Jankovic blazed the ball just over the target when he should have at least tested Pegolo.
Manfredini almost scored a second own goal, after a dangerous free-kick was sent in from the left by Romulo and twice rebounded goal-ward off the Neroverdi defender, with the Verona players claiming that the ball had crossed the line. However, replays clearly showed that Pegolo had stopped the ball from going in.
The home side continued to chase the game and probed for the equaliser, considerably upping the tempo in the final quarter, as many players slid across the slippery surface, with the rain intensifying as the game wore on.
Toni sealed the three points for the away team in the 86th minute, sending a marvellous chip over Pegolo into an empty net. The ball was cleverly headed on by Romulo, and the Sassuolo defence was left wrong-footed as Toni had just the goalkeeper to beat.
Floro Flores almost got one back for Sassuolo in the final minute, as a mix-up in the Verona defence gave him the chance to get a shot on goal, which he angled wide of the right post.
The Neapolitan striker did hit the back of the net shortly afterwards, finding himself free in the box as he headed home from Berardi’s deep free-kick from the right. However, it proved to be a mere consolation goal, as the referee called an end to proceedings moments later.
