Verona earned themselves another season in Serie A yesterday with a goal four minutes from the end of a 1-2 relegation playoff defeat away to Reggina.
The away-goals rule kept Verona, who had won the first0, in the top flight and consigned Reggina to Serie B after Michele Cossato's 86th-minute strike.
Verona
had looked the sharper side for most of the first half, then conceded two goals just before the break from Andrea Zanchetta and Francesco Cozza.
The second half was more balanced, and both teams created scoring chances.
Verona's efforts were finally rewarded when Cossato headed home a priceless equaliser on aggregate.
Reggina, who joined Serie A for the first time in the club's history in the 1999-2000 season, had defender Jorge Vargas sent off in the final minute.
The two sides had finished the regular season level with Lecce on 37 points.
A playoff, rather than goal difference, is used to decide relegation in Italy. Lecce stayed up because of their better head-to-head results against their rivals during the season.
* Valery Klimov scored a last-minute equaliser as Russian premier division newcomers Torpedo-ZIL snatched a 1-1 draw against city rivals Torpedo in the first encounter between the two Moscow sides.
Torpedo, founded in 1924 and backed for years by major Russian car makers ZIL, were sold to the company which owns Moscow's 84,000-seat Luzhniki Stadium in 1977 after the ZIL management could no longer finance the premier division club.
But ZIL, eager to maintain their rich soccer tradition, formed a second division side the following year.
They won promotion to the first division in their first season and then to the top flight last year, creating two Torpedos based in Moscow this season.
Torpedo dominated a heated derby, which both sides finished with 10 men.
Dmitry Vyazmikin put them ahead in the 32nd minute with a fine left-footed volley to extend his goalscoring streak to seven games. It was his 12th goal of the season and 10th in the last seven matches.
Torpedo goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky saved a 44th-minute penalty as his side looked for a sixth win in eight matches, only for ZIL to salvage a point in stoppage time.
Klimov caught the Torpedo defence off guard, rounded Berezovsky and tucked the ball into an empty net.
Despite losing two points, Torpedo moved level with premier division leaders Krylya Sovietov Samara, who suffered a 0-2 defeat at Saturn Ramenskoye. Both have 26 points from 14 games.
In Ramenskoye, Saturn's Moldovan striker, Serghei Rogaciov, opened the scoring in the 73rd minute and former Russian international Valery Kechinov sealed the win nine minutes later.
In Moscow, CSKA thrashed fifth-placed Sokol Saratov 4-0 with two goals in each half to extend their unbeaten run to 10 games.
The win moved CSKA, who started the season with four consecutive defeats, to within four points of the leaders.
Today, defending champions Spartak entertain city rivals and last season's runners-up, Lokomotiv, in another Moscow derby.
- AGENCIES
Verona earned themselves another season in Serie A yesterday with a goal four minutes from the end of a 1-2 relegation playoff defeat away to Reggina.
The away-goals rule kept Verona, who had won the first0, in the top flight and consigned Reggina to Serie B after Michele Cossato's 86th-minute strike.
Verona
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.