Serie B Week 38: Review

Saturday 3 May
Chievo 5-0 Spezia
Rarely has such a one-sided match been seen in Serie B, as Spezia seemed to have all but given up on achieving safety. The leaders carved up the defence with embarrassing ease to score with Pellissier’s brace, a Marcolini free kick that incredibly squirmed through goalkeeper Dazzi’s gloves, Obinna converting a penalty and Bentivoglio meeting Cossato’s assist. Ceccarelli also saw red for the foul that led to the spot-kick.


Piacenza 1-3 Albinoleffe
Albinoleffe will not stop surprising this season and maintain second place. Cellini opened the scoring with help from a deflection off Zammuto and then set up Carobbio’s second. Piacenza woke up after the restart and closed in on a result with Riccio, but this left space for Ruopolo’s stoppage-time counter-attack.

Bologna 1-0 Vicenza
Bologna get back into the hunt for an automatic promotion place, but their form is waning as this was another fairly sluggish performance. Moras got the win with a precise finish after combining with Bellucci, though Vicenza hit the post in the second half.

Lecce 1-1 Mantova
Lecce fall off the promotion pace with this ill-tempered draw, but it could have been even worse save for a super sub goalkeeper. Boudianski and Tiribocchi combined to create the opener for Angelo and Godeas confirmed his Capocannoniere status straight after the restart by meeting Cristante’s cross. After Cottafava thumped the bar for the Salentini, Mantova started to take control, especially after Diamoutene’s second booking and a straight red for goalkeeper Benussi’s foul. Substitute Rosati came on and with his first touch the youngster saved Godeas’ penalty.

Modena 0-3 Brescia
Serse Cosmi’s side dominated the Canarini to keep up with the top teams. It took until the second half for Possanzini to break through with a left-foot strike closely followed by a right-foot finish. Zoboli’s diving header from a corner kick finished Modena off.

Avellino 3-1 Pisa
Pisa’s promotion hopes took a massive blow with this surprisingly heavy defeat at relegation strugglers Avellino. Cipriani nodded in Sestu’s cross to open the scoring and Juliano surprised the goalkeeper off his line, but the home side took control. Pellicori’s brilliant overhead kick and a Corallo header sank the Tuscans.

Rimini 4-3 Triestina
Rimini are making a habit of pyrotechnic encounters in these final weeks of the campaign and this seven-goal thriller was no exception. Neither side particularly needed the points and the home team had the brighter start with a series of chances before Vantaggiato’s header finally broke through. Triestina fought back with Minelli’s tap-in and Pagano restored the advantage, but the final nine minutes were extraordinary. Testini’s equaliser was cancelled out within 60 seconds by Milani accidentally turning into his own net, while Sgrigna thought he’d snatched a point only for Ricchiuti to round out the scoreline.

Ravenna 1-0 Messina
Messina are now safe from relegation and it showed, as Ravenna snatched an important victory to keep hoping they’ll join them. Sforzini came sliding on to Succi’s assist to turn the game on 51 minutes.

Frosinone 5-2 Cesena
Frosinone needed an hour to get going, but when they hit top gear there was little Cesena could do about it. Evacuo and Lodi bagged a brace apiece around Paponi’s strike from distance. The visitors at least made the scoreline a little less painful with Juric, but Eder completed the rout in stoppages.

Ascoli 2-0 Bari
Guberti was the undoubted Man of the Match as he scored two fairly similar goals at the start of the second half, cutting in from the left flank to hit a right-foot drive into the corner. It could have been 3-0, but Gillet did well to parry Soncin’s penalty.

Treviso P-P Grosseto
The game at the Stadio Tenni was abandoned after 20 minutes as a result of a police tragedy outside the ground. Grosseto were leading 1-0 thanks to a goal from Graffiedi but the match was postponed and it will be replayed at a later date. The rest of the game was replayed on 14 May and Treviso managed to turn it around to win 2-1 - read match report.

Source: C4 Football Italia