League leaders Ancona crashed to a shocking defeat to Crotone in one of the Serie B’s biggest surprises of the season so far. The Dorici failed to create a gap between themselves and their closest followers Lecce, who in turn are followed by Cesena and Padova.

Lecce will have the chance to take over the standings if the club manages at least a point away to Torino in a cracking clash.

The defeat to Ancona was not the only surprising result of the weekend, since Frosinone lost by the same score line to Gallipoli, while Cesena only managed a draw at home against a struggling Albinoleffe. The Canarini must have known it is not their day, when the match was delayed about 20 minutes due to a severe thunderstorm around the stadium.

Empoli took advantage of the weekend scores to draw closer with the top teams and are now a mere two points behind leaders Ancona after achieving a comfortable 2-0 win over Reggina on Friday.

The league standings are now quite competitive, with no less than nine teams separated by a mere three points at the right end of the table. In all likelihood, the picture will only become clearer after the winter break with regards to the top teams, while bottom placed Salernitana continue to struggle and are likely headed towards relegation barring a miracle. They lost 3-1 to fourth placed Padova this weekend.

In another notable result, fifth placed Sassuolo failed to break down Modena’s defence in a scoreless draw, albeit an eventful one that saw each team end the match a player down after the Tamburini was sent-off for an early shower after 56 minutes, and was followed by Gorzegno from the home side 15 minutes later.

Below is a complete list of the results:

Ascoli 1-1 Cittadella
Brescia 2-2 Triestina
Cesena 0-0 Albinoleffe
Crotone 2-1 Ancona
Empoli 2-0 Reggina
Gallipoli 2-1 Frosinone
Padova 3-1 Salernitana
Piacenza 0-2 Mantova
Sassuolo 0-0 Modena
Vicenza 0-0 Grosseto

Rami Soufi, Football Italiano