Lecce-Empoli 1-0
The news
On the day in which the copy of the statue of Sant'Oronzo, patron saint of the city, finds its place after five years and returns to stand out on the column positioned in the square of the same name, Lecce, thanks to a paw from Samson at the end of the match, beats Empoli 1-0, a direct competitor for the survival race, and reaches 32, at +6 on the red zone.
Empoli, for whom a great performance from goalkeeper Caprile was not enough, remains stuck at 38 points, but has the regret of the goal disallowed at the start of Cerri, due to a catch by their goalkeeper outside the area at the start of the action (referee Mariani , recalled to the VAR, cancels). The Salento team have won three fundamental points and can look forward to the next matches with greater serenity, while for the Tuscans the chase for salvation is still in the midst of the tussle.
Luca Gotti lines up his team with the usual 4-2-3-1, with Piccoli up front (Krstovic suspended) and the Almqvist-Oudin-Dorgu trident behind him. On the opposite front Nicola opts for a three-man defence, in attack he relies on the Cancellieri-Cerri duo.
We start and the match starts already in the 5th minute: Cerri unlocks it but Mariani cancels the goal. The escaped danger suddenly ignites the hosts who in less than a minute (20') challenge Caprile, who does well to thwart the double conclusion from Gendery first and Dorgu afterwards. The guests try to stick their noses into the opponent's half of the field, especially by exploiting set-piece situations, and create a double opportunity but Falcone outdoes himself (37'): first he thwarts a fortuitous touch from teammate Pongragic on a corner kick, then he blocks a loose ball headed by Cerri. It's Lecce again and where Caprile doesn't arrive the woodwork takes care of it (45'): yet another melee in the away area, header by Piccoli which finds the crossbar and then a foul on the goalkeeper.
We go into the second half with Lecce looking more insistently for the goal. And in the 13th minute it seems to be a done deal with Baschirotto's header but Caprile flies and denies the Giallorossi the advantage. The new thrill makes the visiting coach run for cover who makes a triple change (60'): Maleh, Nang and Cambiaghi come on for Zurkowski, Cancellieri and Cerri. At Lecce, however, Gotti throws Sansone into the fray (62') for a dull Almqvist who receives a yellow card.
Nicola makes a fourth substitution and brings on Kovalenko for Bastoni. Gotti responded immediately and responded with Gonzalez for Dorgu. In the 44th minute Pierotti, who had been on for less than a minute, disturbed Walukiewicz's clearance and stole the ball from him, serving it to Sansone who scored into an empty net. Lecce in the lead and four minutes of added time that are experienced in apnea at Via Del Mare. Mariani's final whistle was hailed as a liberation. Lecce gets the three points by the skin of their teeth and a perhaps decisive breakthrough in the race for salvation. For Empoli the run-up is even more difficult.