Serie B Week 31: Review

Tuesday 18 March
Treviso 0-2 Bologna
Bologna have taken advantage of a positive round to clamber back up into the top spot alongside Chievo. Adailton opened the scoring from the spot after Marazzina had been barged off the ball by Gissi. Treviso fought back with Barreto firing just over and Antonioli’s save on Quadrini, but the Rossoblu were in fine form after their shock weekend home loss to Piacenza. Valiani exchanged passes swiftly with Marazzina for the second.


Albinoleffe 3-3 Avellino
Albinoleffe completed an incredible comeback, making up a two-goal deficit with 10 men. At the weekend they slipped off the top of the table and looked to be heading even further down the pecking order when Pellicori’s double and a Salgado strike left them 3-1 down. The situation seemed dire with Gervasoni’s dismissal, but it spurred his teammates on. Perico gave Leffe hope and Cellini added to his earlier penalty to send the Stadio Azzurri d’Italia wild. Ruopolo also saw red in stoppages.

Ravenna 1-1 Chievo
Chievo lose the sole leadership of Serie B after this surprise stalemate at relegation favourites Ravenna. The home side had opened their account with Pecorari, but although Pellissier equalised just five minutes later, the Flying Donkeys stayed grounded.

Brescia 0-0 Lecce
The big match between these two Serie A contenders was something of a disappointment in the end, with neither able to break the deadlock at the Rigamonti. There were difficult saves on Stankevicius, Zanchetta, Valdes, Tiribocchi and Ariatti. Yet the best chance fell to Rondinelle defender Zoboli, whose header cracked against the crossbar on 40 minutes. Bega saw red for a second bookable offence on Vives, but Brescia clung on as in the final minutes Ariatti hit the post.

Piacenza 4-2 Pisa
Piace continue their giant-killing spree as three days after ending Bologna’s unbeaten home record they have defeated promotion hopefuls Pisa. Raimondi had given the visitors the lead, but Dedic turned the game around with his brace, including one from the spot. Zammuto got a rare goal straight after the restart to stun the Tuscans. Castillo gave Pisa hope of a comeback with his effort 10 minutes from time, which took a decisive deflection off Gemiti, but Dedic completed his hat-trick with another penalty.

Rimini 4-2 Spezia
Rimini are one of the only ‘big’ teams to pick up a win in this midweek round. Vantaggiato got two around Camorani’s temporary equaliser, but Greco’s double – including a penalty – proved too much for Spezia. Even after Bianchi’s dismissal, Zizzari got a consolation goal for the visitors, but this result sends them into penultimate place.

Grosseto 1-0 Mantova
Mantova’s dismal campaign continues with this surprise defeat away to relegation strugglers Grosseto. They were unable to answer Terra’s goal despite having an hour to formulate a response and mid-table mediocrity is surely all they can hope for now. That is something Grosseto can now aspire to as they clamber further away from the drop zone.

Ascoli 1-1 Messina
Guberti put Ascoli in front with a splendid right-foot angled drive, but D’Aversa made the most of a lucky deflection to even the honours just before the break at the Stadio Del Duca.

Frosinone 0-1 Triestina
Frosinone fall to a surprise home defeat that takes Triestina out of the danger zone. Sgrigna’s goal, a fierce left-foot effort from the edge of the box that took a deflection off Pagani, found no reply from a sluggish Frosinone.

Modena 1-1 Vicenza
These two sides have disappointed for most of the season, but Vicenza can be well pleased with this away point. Morosini had in fact put the Biancorossi ahead on the stroke of half-time, but Longo did enough to earn Modena a draw in front of their own fans.

Bari 0-0 Cesena
Cesena climb off the foot of the table with this precious away point, as Bari’s march under new Coach Antonio Conte hits a rather stubborn stumbling block.

Source: C4 Football Italia