Serie B action round-up

Week 12 kicked off on Friday evening as Cittadella hosted Padova at the Stadio Tombolato. The hosts went in front after 26 minutes thanks to an Emanuele Pesoli strike, but Padova secured a point when Vincenzo Italiano equalised seven minutes into the second-half. On Saturday, new leaders Ancona entertained fellow promotion contenders Cesena in a highly anticipated encounter. Sadly the game finished goalless with the hosts remaining top of the pile.

Frosinone’s season is in danger of imploding as they suffered their second straight defeat at home to Sassuolo. The Neroverdi were three up by half-time thanks to goals from Riccardo Zampagna, Emiliano Salvetti and Daniele Martinetti and that is how the score remained to leave Frosinone coach Francesco Moriero with some serious soul searching to do over the next week. Lecce are joint leaders of Serie B after a hard-fought 1-0 victory at the Via del Mare against Empoli, with Giuseppe Vives’s sixth minute strike enough to give the hosts all three points.

Salernitana’s brief renaissance came to an emphatic end at Reggina. Antonio Buscè, Emmanuel Cascione and Simone Missiroli netted for the hosts, while Abderrazzak Jadid got the visitors’ consolation as Reggina Coach Ivo Iaconi got his first win for his new employers. This result signalled the end of the Granata’s second Coach Marco Cari, as Gianluca Grassadonia was promoted from the Primavera squad to take charge of the first team. Triestina got a surprising 2-0 win at home to Torino, goals from Emiliano Testini and Jaroslav Sedivec sent the Turin giants home empty handed. Modena saw off Vicenza at the Alberto Braglia thanks to a Juri Tamburini goal after 29 minutes and Crotone got a much needed win at home to Piacenza, the wonderfully named Archimede Morleo grabbed the only goal of the game to ease the pressure on Coach Franco Lerda.

Albinoleffe grabbed an important three points at home to Gallipoli. Luigi Sala and Valerio Foglio grabbed the goals that took Emiliano Mondonico’s men away from the relegation zone. Grosseto inflicted more woe on Alessandro Pane’s Ascoli side with a 2-1 win at the Carlo Zecchini. The visitors went in front after just six minutes through a Marco Bernacci strike but the hosts took the points thanks to goals from Leandro Vitiello and Mauricio Pinilla.

Monday evening’s game saw Mantova entertain Brescia in a match vital to both sides as the hosts looked to move out of the relegation places and the visitors attempted to get their season back on track after some less than impressive recent performances. The match was played in atrocious conditions with the visitors taking the lead after 19 minutes through Francesco Bega. On the stroke of half-time, veteran Tomas Locatelli drew the host’s level but just a minute into the second period, Andrea Rispoli put Brescia ahead for the second time. Midway through the second period Brescia were reduced to 10 men after defender Sebastian De Maio was dismissed and just a minute later, Riccardo Fissore ensured Mantova took a share of the spoils, a result that helps neither team.