Hellas Verona strengthened its Serie A survival chances with a 2-1 win against Fiorentina on Sunday, while Empoli and Frosinone drew 0-0. Prior to the weekend, all three teams were tied at 31 points, barely two points above the relegation zone.
Verona had been assisted by Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano’s decision to rotate his team in advance of the following leg of the Europa Conference League’s semifinal on Wednesday. Fiorentina overcame Club Brugge 3-2 in the first match last week.
And the visitors gave Verona the lead in the 13th minute on Sunday when goalkeeper Oliver Christensen failed to gather an innocuous-looking long ball and instead hauled down Tijjani Noslin.
Darko Lazović converted the ensuing penalty. Gaetano Castrovilli, who had already struck the post, leveled just before halftime for his first goal since recovering from a knee injury that had kept him out for nearly a year.
After Darko Lazović intercepted Nikola Milenković’s cross and Noslin scored, Verona took the lead again in the 59th minute. Verona now leads 18th-place Udinese, who visit Napoli on Monday, by five points.
Met with Udinese on Saturday following their shocking victory over Inter Milan, the recent Serie A winners. With three rounds remaining, Empoli and Frosinone were three points over the drop zone.
Despite playing the entire second half with 10 men, Cagliari is only one point ahead of them after giving up a late goal to level the match at 1-1 with Lecce. Just before halftime, Gianluca Gaetano violently tackled Lecce midfielder Ylber Ramadani, earning him a straight red card.
After Yerry Mina’s strike put Cagliari ahead, Nikola Krstović of Lecce equalized with six minutes left. In the final minutes, Lecce also struck the post twice.
On the opposite side of the standings, Roma will want to increase its chances of making it into the Champions League by defeating Juventus, which is now in third place, later on Sunday. AC Milan played the Giants.