Serie B – Spezia saves itself and forces Venezia to the playoffs. Ascoli in C; to the Ternana and Bari playouts

Fri. Ascoli-Pisa 2-1 [12′ Botteghin (A), 53′ D’Alessandro (P), 68′ Pablo Rodriguez (A)]

Fri. Bari-Brescia 2-0 [26′ Sibilli (Ba), 57′ Di Cesare (Ba)]

Fri. Catanzaro-Sampdoria 1-3 [4′ rig., 57′ e 60′ Borini (S), 39′ Oliveri (C)]

Fri. Cremonese-Citadel 3-0 [17′ rig. Coda (Cr), 36′ Bianchetti (Cr), 88′ Johnsen (Cr)]

Fri. FeralpiSalò-Ternana 0-1 [25′ Distefano (T)]

Fri. Lecco-Modena 2-3 [2′ e 35′ Strizzolo (M), 22′ Sersanti (L), 29′ Bozhanaj (M)]

Fri. Reggiana-Parma 1-1 [26′ Portanova (R), 61′ rig. Bonny (P)]

Fri. Spice-Venice 2-1 [17′ Idzes (V), 56′ F. P. Esposito (S), 61′ Reca (S)]

Fri. Südtirol-Palermo 0-1 [64′ Diakité (P)]

• Promoted directly to Serie A: Parma (1st place) 76 points and Como (2nd) 73;
• In the playoffs: Venice (3rd place) 70, Cremonese (4th) 67, Catanzaro (5th) 60, Palermo (6th) 56, Sampdoria (7th) 55 and Brescia (8th) 51;
• To the playoffs: Ternana (16th place) 43 and Bari (17th) 41;
• Relegated directly to Serie C: Ascoli (18th place) 41, FeralpiSalò (19th) 33 and Lecco (20th) 26.

• Friday 17/05, h. 8.30pm: Palermo-Sampdoria (Venice)
• Saturday 18/05, h. 8.30pm: Catanzaro-Brescia (Cremonese)

Regulations: single challenge competitions. In case of a draw in the 90th minute, extra time will be played. In the event of a further tie, the teams with the best placement in the regular season will qualify for the semi-finals – where Venezia and Cremonese await.

• Thursday 16/05, h. 8.30pm: Bari-Ternana
• Thursday 23/05, h. 8.30pm: Ternana-Bari

Rules: in the event of a draw at the end of the 180 minutes in total, the team with the worst place in the standings will be relegated to Serie C. There will be no extra time/penalties.

Everything happens at the “Picco” in La Spezia. At half-time, in fact, Venezia was the team destined for direct promotion to Serie A. This was due to the winning header in the 18th minute by Idzes, the Indonesian defender who was doing a lot of harm to Indonesian Hartono’s Como, who in the meantime were under at home for Gennaro Tutino’s goal on the half hour. In the second half, however, a lightning one-two from D’Angelo’s Spezia. in the net in the 56th minute, with a powerful right-footed counter-ball from Francesco Pio Esposito and, in the 61st minute, with Reca’s smash into the area following Elia’s cross from the right. It ends 2-1. Moral of the story: SPezia sixteenth and safe with 44 points, Venezia forced – from third in the standings – to the playoffs for promotion to Serie A.

Mister Michele Mignani’s first victory on the Palermo bench turns out to be the most important one so far. The entire stake comes to the “Druso” of Bolzano, 0-1 against Südtirol, thanks to Diakité’s strike from Roberto Insigne’s corner. An invaluable result for the Rosanero to play the preliminary playoff against Sampdoria within the friendly walls of “Barbera”, who had long enjoyed the possibility of climbing to sixth place and playing at Marassi, after the success of Catanzaro (already certain of fifth place) with Fabio Borini’s resounding hat-trick.

Despite finishing on a par with Bari (41 points), Ascoli was directly relegated to Serie C after 9 years in Serie B. At the “Cino e Lillo Del Duca”, the bitterest victory, 2-1 against Pisa. In the 12th minute a cross from the right by Pablo Rodriguez and a header into Botteghin’s corner. IN the 54th minute, with a personal action in the serpentine, D’Alessandro momentarily rebalances the score but, in the 68th minute, Pablo Rodriguez sets the score at 2-1 on the counterattack following a pass from Mantovani. However, it won’t be enough for coach Massimo Carrera’s team: Bari and Ternana (in the play-offs) both win, against Brescia and FeralpiSalò respectively.

Sixteen appearances and one assist. This is the final CV of Baldovino Cimino, the multifaceted defender born in 2004 for Cosenza, in his first season in the first team, who has found a starting place in Como. Right or left full-back, but if necessary also full-field lateral or “arm” in the three-man defence, Cimino has put in serious difficulty for his opponents at Sinigaglia. From Campania from Sessa Aurunca, he divided his youth career between Cosenza and Juve Stabia.