MILAN, Italy — Lecce won 2-1 in Pisa to improve their chances of Serie A survival and condemn both their hosts and Verona to relegation.
The victory put Lecce, who occupies the last safe space in Serie A, four points clear of 18th-placed Cremonese, who hosts Lazio on Monday, AFP reported.
Earlier, Venezia ensured they would be coming up from Serie B despite conceding a 90th-minute goal to draw at La Spezia.
Pisa stayed last in Serie A and fell 14 points behind Lecce with three matches to play. Verona remains a place and a point better off, but with four games left, cannot close the 13-point gap that separates them from Lecce and safety.
Lameck Banda fired Lecce in front after 52 minutes, but the visitors only led for four minutes before Mehdi Leris, playing with his head bandaged, volleyed Pisa level.
Lecce regained the lead in the 65th minute with a goal that was the mirror-image of the first, as Walid Cheddira skimmed a shot inside the far post from the right side of the box.
Gabriele Piccinini, who had come on four minutes earlier, had a 76th-minute chance to level, but his header from two metres out was well saved by goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.
On a difficult return to Serie A after a 34-year wait, Pisa have won only two games all season and have been in the relegation zone since the third round of matches.
Their season went awry even before it began with the surprise departure of Filippo Inzaghi, the manager who had secured their promotion.
His successor, another former Italian international, Alberto Gilardino, was sacked after their 23rd match.
Swede Oscar Hiljemark, who took over at just 33 years of age, has picked up only four points in 12 matches.
Pisa were relegated after just one season in Serie A for the fifth time. Only once have they survived a season in Serie A, in 1982-83, when they finished a point above the relegation places.
Verona goes down after six seasons in Serie A.
