Serie A | Verona 1-1 Lecce: A disappointing point each too little for both teams in relegation battle

Lecce gave themselves some hope, but slipped into the drop zone after this stalemate in Verona, where Diego Coppola cancelled out the Nikola Krstovic opener.

Empoli’s victory over Parma last night shook up the fight to avoid relegation, pouring extra pressure on both these teams. Hellas were not safe yet after three consecutive defeats, missing injured Davide Faraoni and Abdou Harroui, but welcoming back Diego Coppola and Daniele Ghilardi from suspension, Casper Tengstedt from injury. The Salentini had just four draws from 12 rounds and slipped into the bottom three, missing Gaby Jean and Filip Marchwinski for the rest of the season.

There was a celebratory atmosphere at the Stadio Bentegodi, with players from the iconic 1985 Scudetto-winning team present to salute the fans, marking the 40^th anniversary of their triumph.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Tete Morente tested Lorenzo Montipò at the near post after a free kick routine and Lecce took a deserved lead when Nikola Krstovic sprung the offside trap on the Tete Morente through ball, beating the on-rushing goalkeeper. He celebrated by holding up the shirt representing physiotherapist Graziano Fiorita, who died suddenly last month.

Lecce continued to have the better of the game, Tete Morente volleying over from the edge of the area, but Verona equalised when Tomas Suslov floated a free kick to the back post for the Coppola free header, which looped into the far top corner.

Krstovic grazed a coat of paint off the near post with a ferocious curler, but Hellas came out fighting for the restart, testing Wladimiro Falcone with Amine Sarr’s header and a Suat Serdar effort.

Coppola nearly added a second, this time his glancing header from a corner flashing just wide of the far post, while Lecce threatened on the counter-attack, Lameck Banda unable to get a tap-in on the Santiago Pierotti ball across the face of goal.

Kialonda Gaspar was forced off for Lecce after being wiped out in an aerial collision with Danilo Mosquera, while Medon Berisha surged forward and tested Montipò with a solo attempt.

The result means Hellas are not quite safe yet, but Lecce are caught by Empoli in third from bottom.

Verona 1-1 Lecce

Krstovic 23 (L), Coppola 41 (V)

1

87

42

3

6

81′

33

9

76′

11

63′

10

75′

38

31

46′

30

25

6

12

46′

4

75′

75

66′

29

14

10

55′

9

7

55′

8

5

22

20

34

12

7

72

2

25

46′

35

63′

14

75′

24

76′

4

81′

3

11

23

32

99

8

1

37

20

77

17

46′

22

55′

50

55′

5

66′

44

75′