Verona: Hellas Verona improved its chances of escaping Serie A’s bottom three after beating Bologna 2-1 thanks to two goals from Simone Verdi.
A first penalty of the season on Friday set Verona on the way to the victory that moved it level on points with 17th-placed Spezia, which visits bottom club Sampdoria on Saturday.
Verona remained below Spezia because it has the worse head-to-head record, which is the first tiebreaker in Serie A.
VAR backed Verona in first-half stoppage time with the award of a penalty after Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski clattered into Adolfo Gaich when coming for a corner. Verdi rolled the spot kick into the bottom left corner.
The tally was doubled in the 62nd minute. Bologna failed to clear a cross properly and Davide Faraoni put it back into the box for Verdi to head across into the bottom right corner. Nicol s Dom nguez lifted the ball over Verona goalkeeper Lorenzo Montip in stoppage time to set up a nervy
finale.