Chievo Verona lost 1-0 to Hellas Verona at the Stadio Bentegodi on Saturday afternoon in Serie A.
A solitary strike from Luca Toni in the second half was enough to give the ‘visitors’ the points and push Eugenio Corini’s men further into the relegation battle.
Victor Obinna had the first opportunity of the game after a quiet 15 minutes when Alberto Paloschi found him on the edge of the box but the effort flew past the right hand corner.
Verona responded minutes later when Juan Iturbe linked with strike partner Luca Toni but his shot was blocked, but from the resulting Romulo corner Toni had another chance, his header saved by Michael Agazzi in the bottom left corner.
Paloschi’s first attempt on goal came in the first 30 minutes, when Perparim Hetemaj found the striker in the box but the header was wide left.
Chievo came close once again when Tiberio Guarente curled the ball into Bostjan Cesar but his effort was missed, before Hetemaj had a header of his own own fly over the bar from a Luca Rigoni cross.
Toni found Iturbe for the first chance of the second half but the Argentine’s effort was saved by Agazzi, while Romulo tested the Chievo goalkeeper seconds later and Alessandro Agostini missed from outside the box with an effort, but Verona couldn’t score.
Juan Iturbe nearly scored with a stunning effort before the hour mark but Agazzi tipped the ball over the bar.
Toni again came close when Iturbe found the veteran but once again his shot was saved by the in-form Chievo goalkeeper.
However, Verona finally broke through when Luca Toni found space in the box following a free kick coolly slotted the ball away with his left foot, his 16th of the season.
Chievo came back into the game, attempting to equalize with a collection of consecutive goalbound attempts from Gennaro Sardo, the first a header saved by Rafael, the second requiring a even more athletic stretch by the goaltender.
Romulo blasted the ball over the Chievo bar minutes later, while Bostjan Cesar and Ivan Radovanovic once again came close with near-equalizing attempts.
Dario Dainelli crossed into Sergio Pellissier whose shot missed, while Cyril Thereau followed a flick-on from Pellissier’s right footed attempt missed to the right.
Hellas nearly doubled their advantage in stoppage time from a fast break but his attempt flew wide, leaving Hellas with a solitary goal to secure the victory.
