Pisa-Lecce 1-2, the verdict: Nerazzurri in Serie B

The match

In Pisa Hiljemark chooses the Moreo-Stojilkovic pair in attack from the 1st minute, while the three-man defense is made up of Canestrelli, Caracciolo and Bozinov. Di Francesco’s Lecce responds with Cheddira in attack, while Pierotti, Coulibaly and Banda are in support in the attacking midfield. The match was blocked at the start but with the home team then coming close to taking the lead on more than one occasion with Stojilkovic, Lecce tried to create but struggled to reach the conclusion. In the 5th minute, a solo action by Banda who starts from the left, skips an opponent and tries a shot from a central position, but is too weak and blocks Semper. In the 16th minute Pisa responds with Angori serving Stojikovic in depth, but the attacker alone in front of Falcone fails to find the corner. The same Tuscan striker comes back on the right in the 21st minute and shoots with power but Tiago Gabriel manages to deflect it and save his own goal. In the 24th minute there was a thrill for Pisa due to a back pass from Akinsanmiro without looking, with Semper not in position but still managing to come back and deflect the ball. Lecce tries to close forward but without causing danger and Pisa defends with order.

At the beginning of the second half, in the 49th minute Stojilkovic was still dangerous, he won a duel and came face to face with Falcone, but the Lecce goalkeeper denied him the goal with an open hand. The goal that breaks the deadlock comes shortly after in the 52nd minute for the Giallorossi: Lecce’s restart with Cheddira slipping between two players, slipping away and serving Banda. The ‘arrow’ enters the area and with his left foot launches a diagonal shot that pierces Semper for 0-1. Di Francesco preaches calm and head but the advantage does not last long. In the 56th minute, Pisa equalized with Leris who, after a series of headers in the area, found a first-choice shot that went into the corner to the right of an innocent Falcone.

Lecce didn’t have it and in the 65th minute they took the lead again: Pierotti started again at speed and fed Cheddira who controlled the area and kicked diagonally, beating Semper to make it 1-2. The Lecce goalkeeper saves his team in the 74th minute: cross into the area from the left for Toure who acts as a header for Piccinini who heads the ball in front of goal but Falcone makes a prodigious intervention and instinctively manages to block the shot. In the 80th minute Lecce scored again with Camarda, who had just come on, who deflected Pierotti’s shot from outside the area, but the goal was disallowed due to the attacker’s offside. In the final, Pisa looked for an equalizer but left space for Lecce’s counterattacks, which wasted at least a couple of them, with Di Francesco furious. However, the Salento team held on until the end and took home three fundamental points in the fight not to be relegated.