Banda and Cheddira scored the goals that gave the Salento team the victory at the home of the Tuscans and the +4 over third-last Cremonese. For the Nerazzurri, Leris scored the winning goal
Pisa and Verona officially say goodbye to Serie A, Lecce takes three very long steps towards salvation. Everything happens in advance of the 35th matchday of Serie A, even if, in the end, the final result is the most predictable one on the eve: thanks to the goals of Banda and Cheddira (and the saves of the inevitable captain Falcone), Di Francesco wins at Pisa (on goal with Leris), condemns the Nerazzurri and Veneto to return to the cadets with 3 matchdays to spare and, above all, now, at +4 on Cremonese, he has the fate of staying in Serie A is in one’s own hands. For the Tuscans it remains another bitter evening, like an entire season, characterized by a commendable crowd and a team also capable of producing good game patterns, but incapable of realizing and, above all, of keeping at a distance. And, in fact, this was the film of the match tonight too.
Lecce, a time of fear in Pisa
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It may be because they are facing a team that has the mental lightness of those who have nothing left to lose and one that feels the weight of the opportunity from not wasting, the fact is that in the first half the team that seems to be chasing salvation seems like Pisa. With the deployment of Vural and Moreo a few meters behind Stojilkovic, Hjliemark soon takes control of the midfield and the Tuscans soon become dangerous. It’s a shame for them, however, that the best opportunities fall at the feet of the Swiss player of Serbian origin, still without a goal in Serie A after arriving in January. In one case, he is the one who wastes it, after a good suggestion from Angori, putting it on the outside of the net only in front of Falcone (15′). In the other, Siebert is very good at dribbling into the area, but Tiago Gabriel is equally decisive, sacrificing himself on the shot from the Nerazzurri number 81 aimed at the corner (21′). Canestrelli will then also try (penalty on the move following an assist from Leris, saved by Falcone) and Moreo, who heads wide following a new suggestion from Angori. And Lecce? Ramadani struggles in directing, Cheddira is abandoned forward in the grip of Caracciolo and Bozhinov, Pierotti runs in circles, so Di Francesco’s team practically relies only on the accelerations of Banda on the left and Danilo Veiga on the right. Even for the Salento team, the regret is that potential opportunities fall on the wrong feet: those of Coulibaly, who is deployed as an attacking midfielder, but, as demonstrated by the 7 goals scored in 161 Serie A games, his main characteristic is certainly not finishing. So, when Banda serves him a ball in the small area to touch into the net, the Malian ends up stopping it and favoring the intervention of the opponent’s number one. And the only circumstance in which Semper has to overcome himself is to make up for… friendly fire: a killer back pass by Akinsanmiro in the center of the goal which the Nerazzurri goalkeeper rejects with an almost miraculous slide (23′).
banda-cheddira, goal of salvation?
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In the second half, the match suddenly lights up: after the third opportunity wasted by Stojilkovic (49′, Falcone did a great job of staying upright and blocking with his left hand), anything happens. Lecce, who certainly entered the field with a more proactive spirit than in the first half, punished the Tuscans at the first useful chance: Ramadani triggered Cheddira, who resisted a double charge and served Banda on the left in the area. The Zambian avoids Canestrelli and directs a strong, sharp shot almost to the top corner which doesn’t allow Semper to reply. For him it is the fourth goal in this championship and the fact that he is Lecce’s top scorer of the season says a lot about the offensive paucity of the Giallorossi. After so much suffering, however, the most seems done for Di Francesco and his team, yet the joy lasts just 4 minutes: the time for a long throw-in on the short side of the area to be blocked short by Siebert and put into the opposite corner by Leris with a rainbow arc. The Tuscans raise their center of gravity in search of pride’s victory, but thus expose themselves to the Giallorossi’s counterattacks. And this is how the decisive goal was born: Pierotti recovered the ball mid-field and went alone to the edge of the opponent’s area, when he served Cheddira. The Moroccan on loan from Napoli finds his first, very heavy goal with the new shirt and thus repays, albeit with a guilty delay, the trust that Di Francesco had placed in him since January. Pierotti and Cheddira, two of the most disappointing players of the first half, become the heroes of the Giallorossi night. With them, Falcone who, with just over a quarter of an hour to go, performed a sensational miracle on the substitute Piccinini, repelling a header from the small area. A certainty, yes. Like the fact that, from today, Pisa and Verona will think about how to try to recover as soon as possible. For Di Francesco, however, fresh from two consecutive relegations with Frosinone and Venezia, salvation is truly closer from tonight.
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