Ancona took over top spot in the division after a comfortable 3-1 win over hosts Ascoli. The victory came thanks to a brace from the club’s top scorer and Serie B’s second leading scorer Salvatore Mastronunzio. The Dorici are now two points ahead of Lecce but the lead may be trimmed to a point if Cesena win their home game against Torino. While Ancona are soaring high, the Bianconeri are now in danger of entering the relegation zone after getting only four points out of a possible 30 in their last 10 outings in the league.

The Salentini, who were the former league leaders, lost to hosts Brescia 0-1 with Andrea Caracciolo leading the way once again for the Rondinelle. The match was not the most entertaining, but Lecce’s Marino Defendi, on loan from Atalanta, did hit the bar with only a few minutes to go, as the visitors attempted to snatch a point from the encounter.

Empoli climbed to fourth place after an impressive and entertaining 3-2 away win against fellow promotion candidates Padova. The Azzurri were up 2-0 when Alessandro Vinci was sent-off, allowing the hosts to pull back two goals, as Andrea Rabito and Antonio Di Nardo found the back of the net. The home fans thought their team will share the points since Di Nardo’s goal came in the last 10 minutes, but Francesco Marianini had the last word with his injury time winner. There was plenty of time for more drama as Padova finished with 10 men as well, after Vincenzo Italiano was sent-off during the dying moments of the match.

In contrasting fortunes to Empoli’s rise, former league leaders Frosinone continued their abysmal form after suffering their fourth successive defeat, as they fell 2-0 to hosts Vicenza. Sasa Bejlanovic opened the scoring for the Berici in the first half, before Davide Gavazzi struck in the second period to confirm the result.

Modena registered an emphatic 3-0 away win at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in Bergamo. Albinoleffe were no match despite playing a man up with about half an hour remaining on the clock. Modena defender Cesare Rickler, on loan from Chievo, received his marching orders to hit the showers early. The Canarini took a quick lead inside the first five minutes through Aiman Napoli. The visitors would score two late goals capped by forward Salvatore Bruno’s injury time strike.

The biggest surprise of this round was perhaps Piacenza’s 2-1 victory at Sassuolo. Piacenza, prior to the weekend, had the second weakest offense in the Serie B, so that made it an even bigger surprise to see the visitors score on two occasions.

In other results, Gallipoli and Mantova were involved in a dull scoreless draw, while Triestina rose to fifth place and play-off contention with a convincing 2-0 home win against Cittadella. The goals came courtesy of second-half strikes by Emiliano Testini and Denis Godeas. Elsewhere, Crotone drew 1-1 with visiting Reggina after both teams struck in first 12 minutes through Biagio Pagano for Reggina and Andrea Mazzarani for the visitors.

Grosseto wasted two precious points after a 2-2 home draw with last place Salernitana. Mauricio Pinilla struck twice for the home team, including once from the penalty spot, but Vincenzo Pepe snatched a late point for the bottom dwellers on the 83rd minute.

Here are the results:

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

Rami Soufi, Football Italiano