Serie B: Venezia smash Palermo, Sudtirol strike a blow to Cremonese

It is starting to become a precession for Parma as they edge closer to a Serie A return, but there was plenty of action happening below them on Serie B Matchday 30.

The Gialloblu defeated lowly Feralpisalo 2-1, but there was a change in the battle for the final automatic promotion spot. Venezia leapt into second after their 3-0 victory against Palermo whereas Cremonese lost by the same score against Sudtirol.

Only two points separate the Arancioneroverdi in second place and Como in fourth. Just three points separate Sampdoria in seventh and Modena in 13th, while Sudtirol in equal ninth with Cittadella, are out of the playoffs by one point.

Venezia win comprehensively in Sicily

Palermo vs Venezia opened Serie B Matchday 30, and the Venetians had enough to be positive about after winning three of their last four matches. On the flip side, the Sicilians could only beat lowly Lecco by one goal in the previous round.

Palermo had some opportunities in the opening minutes, but Venezia took the lead in the 18th minute when Antonio Candela supplied a cross from the right wing and Joel Pohjanpalo scored with a header. The Finn doubled the lead 12 minutes later when Nicholas Pierini headed a long ball down, and the Arancioneroverdi striker surged towards goal before producing a fabulous strike with the outside of his right boot.

Pohjanpalo tried his best to get his hat-trick, but to no avail, and American midfielder Gianluca Busio was not able to convert the chances that fell to him. It was second-half substitute Christian Gytkjaer who sealed the victory two minutes into injury time, capitalising on a defensive error and scoring from a tight angle.

Venezia are now second on 57 points, one point ahead of Cremonese. Meanwhile, Palermo are equal fifth with Catanzaro on 49 points, and they have lost three of their last four matches.

Sudtirol shock Cremonese

Venezia were able to remain second at the end of the round because Cremonese suffered a resounding defeat away to Sudtirol. The Grigiorossi had defeated Como in the previous round, showing their promotion credentials, whereas the South Tyrolese lost away to struggling Spezia.

Cremonese were creating most of the play early on, and Massimo Coda had put the ball into the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside. After 39 minutes, Sudtirol took the lead against the run of play when Jasmin Kurtic crossed from the left wing, and Raphael Odogwu headed the ball into the net.

It got worse for the Grigiorossi in the second half, when their goalkeeper Andreas Jungdal failed to control a pass from a teammate, and Biancorossi winger Riccardo Ciervo ran in to double his team's lead. Despite the efforts of Cremonese to pull a goal back, it was Sudtirol that scored another goal after Silvio Merkaj dribbled around the goalkeeper, and put the ball into the net after a sharp turn to make it 3-0 by the final whistle.

Not all is lost for the Lombard side, but with Venezia winning, and Como beating Pisa 3-1, they cannot afford any more slip-ups as the season draws to a close in the next couple of months.

Serie B 2023/24: Matchday 30 results

Date	Serie B Fixtures/Results
Fri, Mar 15	Palermo 0-3 Venezia
Sat, Mar 16	Brescia 1-1 Catanzaro
Sat, Mar 16	Como 3-1 Pisa
Sat, Mar 16	Feralpisalo 1-2 Parma
Sat, Mar 16	Sudtirol 3-0 Cremonese
Sat, Mar 16	Ternana 1-0 Cosenza
Sat, Mar 16	Bari 0-1 Sampdoria
Sat, Mar 16	Cittadella 1-1 Modena
Sat, Mar 16	Reggiana 0-0 Spezia
Sun, Mar 17	Ascoli 4-1 Lecco

Serie B 2023/24: Table after Matchday 30

Pos	Club	MP	Pts
1	Parma	30	65
2	Venezia	30	57
3	Cremonese	30	56
4	Como	30	55
5	Palermo	30	49
6	Catanzaro	30	49
7	Sampdoria	30	40
8	Brescia	30	39
9	Sudtirol	30	38
10	Cittadella	30	38
11	Pisa	30	37
12	Reggiana	30	37
13	Modena	30	37
14	Cosenza	30	34
15	Bari	30	34
16	Ternana	30	32
17	Ascoli	30	31
18	Spezia	30	31
19	Feralpisalo	30	27
20	Lecco	30	21