Serie B action round-up

This week saw the remaining fixtures from Week 19 completed. Sassuolo went top as Ancona faltered, whilst a big win for Piacenza kept their survival hopes alive.

Cittadella 1-0 Ancona:Cittadella may only be a few points off the drop zone but they showed in this game that they have fight in them. Struggling of late, Ancona slipped to fourth after this defeat and it is a result that they could not argue with. Good goalkeeping and the woodwork kept the home side at bay. Matteo Ardemagni saw his spot kick saved and the away side looked to be holding on before in stoppage time a shot was well saved by Júnior Costa but fell to Ardemagni to tap home for all three points.

Mantova 2-1 Crotone: Mantova and Crotone gave glaring examples of why these two were fighting out a relegation battle. The inability of both goalkeepers and defences to deal with set pieces was evident as the first goal a header from Davide Carrus saw goalkeeper Emanuele Concetti flap at the cross. Concetti was at it again for the second as his mistake saw a scramble in the box partially cleared and the ball back in was cleverly dispatched by Simone Salviato. Crotone replied from a corner, the cross was swung in, not dealt with by anyone apart from Riccardo Fissore who popped up with an own goal.

Sassuolo 3-2 Salernitana:Sassuolo go top as expected after beating the team holding up the rest of the table. An own goal from Iacopo Balestri put the home side ahead and when Ciro Polito thumbled a cross it was Daniele Quadrini who was on hand to score. The third duly followed when poor marking allowed Daniele Martinetti to make it three, however, Salernitana replied with two late goals the first a close range drive from Evans Soligo and the second from Federico Dionisi who profited on poor defending. This lead to a tricky last twenty minutes for the home team, but they held on to go top.

Triestina 1-3 Piacenza: Performance of the week goes to strugglers Piacenza as they keep their survival hopes alive. This did not look possible after Marcello Cottafava poached a goal due to give the home side the lead. Good goalkeeping kept the lead at 1-0. In the second-half a rather comical scramble in the box saw Edgar Cani score a looping header. He finished well for his second soon after, a fine strike worthy of taking the lead and in the 90th minute they counter attacked well to seal the victory with a measured finish from Davide Moscardelli.