It was a rather uninspiring display at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi, as Chievo edged out a 1-0 victory against Carpi.
In a match which featured very few genuine scoring opportunities, substitute Sergio Pellissier netted a late goal to break Biancorossi hearts.
In a first half where neither side looked comfortable, it took 20 minutes for the match to see its first incident of any consequence, when Chievo’s Lucas Castro saw his looping header finish well over the bar on what would have been a birthday gift to himself.
Perhaps the only genuine chance of the first half came at the half-hour mark when a Riccardo Meggiorini diving header was deflected by Emanuele Suagher and finished just wide of the goal.
From the resulting corner, Fabrizio Cacciatore made a mess of his header at the far post.
Carpi came out in the second half with a little more attacking intent, as Jerry Mbakogu was played through on goal in the 50th minute but Alessandro Gamberini rolled back the years to make a crucial sliding tackle.
In what was perhaps their only impressive run of possession all match, Lorenzo Pasciuti found Antonio Di Gaudio in the box but the Italian’s effort from a promising position was disappointing.
It looked as if the match was finally coming to life, and Carpi goalkeeper Vid Belec was called in to make an impressive double save, first parrying Castro’s effort before jumping up quickly to deny Valter Birsa an open goal.
Just when it looked like Chievo had run out of ideas, substitute Sergio Pellissier was in the right spot at the right time on an 83rd minute corner, spinning and firing home between the legs of Belec.
Zaccardo saw two late efforts well-saved by Albano Bizzarri as the visitors left it too late to emerge as an attacking force.
The victory sees Chievo leapfrog Lazio into 8th place, while Carpi remain level with Palermo on 28 points, goal differential all that currently separates them from the relegation zone, with the Rosanero in action tomorrow against the Biancocelesti.
