MILAN (AP) — Darko Lazović scored twice to help Hellas Verona to a valuable 2-0 win over Cremonese in a Serie A relegation fight on Monday.
Both goals came in the first half and saw the hosts move off the bottom of the table. Verona remained in the relegation zone but inched to within six points of safety with its first win since the beginning of September.
Cremonese, which has yet to win in its first season back in Serie A in 27 years, replaced it in last spot.
The Cremonese players wore special shirts dedicated to Gianluca Vialli, who died on Friday. Cremonese was Vialli’s first club and the shirts had a picture of him on the left sleeve and the words “Ciao Luca” (goodbye Luca).
The jerseys will be auctioned with the entire proceeds going to a charity that Vialli set up.
The match was vital for both sides, with just one point separating them at the foot of the table.
Verona took the lead in the ninth minute when Lazović gathered the ball with his back to goal and swivelled to fire into the roof of the net.
Cremonese sought the equalizer but was caught out by a counterattack as Josh Doig ran almost the entire length of the field -- from inside his own penalty area to the edge of the other one -- before rolling across for Lazović to fire into the bottom left corner.
Atalanta played Bologna later, looking to close the gap on fourth-placed Inter Milan and the final Champions League qualifying spot.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
