Serie B 2014/15: Frosinone fly to second place

Frosinone made light work of hosts Latina at the Stadio Francioni easily dispatching their derby opponents 4-1 to secure second place despite playing the last 15 minutes with 10 men and Varese downed Modena 2-1 on the strength of the “Miracle of Miracoli” wrapping up Week 12 of the Serie B calendar.

The gulf in class between the Canarini and bottom of the table Latina was evident from the opening whistle and the visitors were dangerous as Latina had trouble coping with coach Roberto Stellone’s tactic of pressing high and not allowing the Nerazzurri to play through the midfield.

Frosinone were rewarded for their efforts inside of a quarter hour when Daniel Ciofani scored his first of the match on a corner kick when Federico Dionisi headed the ball down and Ciofani set himself for a right-footed rocket past hapless Latina keeper Simone Farelli.

The guests barely had time to finish their celebration before they doubled their lead, and once again it was Ciofani who scored his fifth of the season, when Luca Paganini slalomed through the Latina defense before the ball was eventually poked out but fell kindly to Ciofani who was at the edge of the area and hit a perfectly angled drive sneaking just inside the far post.

For large stretches of the match Frosinone dominated play allowing the hosts to only possess the ball deep in their own half and forcing them back on their heels. Latina’s sole bright spot of the first half was when Roma on-loan midfielder Federico Viviani rattled the crossbar on a free kick at the 40 minute mark but Latina largely played with little inspiration nor hope of clawing their way back from a two-goal deficit.

The second half fared little better as Paolo Dellafiore coughed up the ball and his error was Dionisi’s gain as the veteran did not miss and the rout was on inside the 10-minute mark.

Latina were gifted a lifeline when substitute Doudo Mangni was awarded a penalty for a Frosinone handball but the subsequent spot kick by Viviani hit the post and it seemed nothing could go right on the day.

The guests were able to score a consolation goal from Mangni a few minutes later but it was too little, too late as Frosinone heaped on more misery scoring their fourth, minutes after being reduced to 10 men.

Varese continued their home success by defeating Modena at the Stadio Ossola, extending the Biancorossi unbeaten streak to six matches this season, and eight overall including last year, and handing Modena coach Walter Novellino his first loss against Varese.

Luca Miracoli scored his first goals of the season against the second-stingiest defense of Modena giving Varese a well needed victory and placing the squad level on points with Modena at 15, five valuable points above the relegation zone.

You can view the Serie B standings here.