Serie B - Week 17: Weekend Review

Friday 5 December
Empoli 2-0 Bari
Empoli comfortably won this promotion battle that leaves Bari six points adrift of the leaders following a second consecutive defeat. Lodi and Vannucchi tested Gillet’s reflexes before substitute Pozzi finally beat him with 20 minutes left on the clock. Bari tried to fight back with Bassi denying Cavalli’s effort, but in stoppages Ranocchia brought down Vannucchi for a Lodi penalty.


Saturday 6 December
Frosinone 2-2 Sassuolo
Former leaders Sassuolo were eventually happy to get a point from Frosinone, though it drops them down the standings. Pensalfini had opened the scoring with his first goal of the season, finishing off Salvetti's build-up work, but Dedic's free kick and a Diogo Tavares strike turned it around. Pensalfini surprisingly again came to the rescue to earn Sassuolo a share of the spoils.

Parma 1-0 Avellino
Parma continued their renaissance and are now joint second along with Sassuolo, Grosseto and Brescia. Cristiano Lucarelli was injured, so Danish defender Troest became the unlikely hitman by nodding in a set play. Despite creating some good second half opportunities, Avellino were unable to get the game back on track.

Grosseto 1-1 Cittadella
Grosseto were runaway leaders a fortnight ago, but now find themselves embroiled in a mass of teams in second place behind Empoli. It is an improvement on last week's 5-0 thrashing at Vicenza, but not by much considering Cittadella are battling relegation and took the lead through Meggiorini's left-foot strike. Sansovini snatched a precious point in the second half, showing great strength to batter down the defence and meet Valeri's assist.

Brescia 1-0 Albinoleffe
Possanzini's fourth goal of the campaign proved enough to win the local derby in Brescia's third consecutive victory. The last time these sides clashed was in the promotion play-off last season, but Serafini's error proved very costly indeed, as his header back to the goalkeeper turned into a perfect assist for Possanzini.

Livorno 3-0 Salernitana
The Amaranto swept crisis-hit Salernitana aside, although they were helped by Peccarisi's red card on the stroke of half-time. Tavano had already given them the lead with the easiest of tap-ins, but Candreva's long-range effort and a trademark Diamanti free kick rounded out the scoreline.

Piacenza 0-2 Triestina
Triestina showed off their prowess on set plays to grab an impressive victory at the Stadio Garilli. A shirt-tug on a corner gave Princivalli the opening penalty, then Allegretti sealed the scoreline with one of his classic fearsome free kicks. This win puts Triestina in the thick of the play-off battle.

Ancona 2-4 Pisa
Pisa are back in business and the commander in chief is hat-trick-hero Joelson. He already had two under his belt in the opening 20 minutes, then waited for Gasparetto's strike and half-time before completing the treble. Ancona were utterly crushed, but rallied for a courageous fightback through Nassi and Surraco in an entertaining encounter.

Treviso 0-0 Mantova
Mantova at least manage to scrape a point after a run of two straight defeats. Godeas could have made it a lot more, but wasted two golden opportunities, hitting the underside of the bar from nine yards and scuffing another shot from close range.

Modena 3-0 Ascoli
Ascoli are beset by financial problems and slide to the foot of the table after this relegation dogfight disaster. Biabiany has been Modena's form player recently and he had a hand in every goal, setting up the first two for Catellani and Bruno before scoring himself with a spectacular scissor-kick volley from the edge of the box.

Monday 8 December
Rimini 0-1 Vicenza
Vicenza moved towards play-off contention with a 1-0 win away to a Rimini side slipping into the bottom half. The decisive goal came from Bjelanovic who perfectly converted a Giani cross with a precise header for his seventh of the campaign. Pugliese stopped Bernardini's fizzing effort in a first half dominated by the visitors. Rimini spurned a great chance to level when Vantaggiato fired narrowly wide when one on one with the goalkeeper. The Berici saw substitute Serafini sent off in the last minute for a second bookable offence but they held on for three important points.

Source: C4 Football Italia