ROME, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Empoli defeated Salernitana 3-1 away from home in the 24th round of the Italian Serie A on Feb. 9.
At the beginning of the game, the two teams exchanged attacks and defenses, but Empoli, who had a slight advantage in attack, took the lead in breaking the deadlock in the 23rd minute with an own goal from their opponents. Cambiaghi cut in from the left and fired a shot at goal, but Salernitana's Zanoli accidentally changed the direction of the ball into the net, catching the home goalkeeper Ochoa off guard and watching the ball fly into the net.
In the rematch, Salernitana stepped up their attacks, and in the 69th minute, Candreva assisted teammate Weissman to score with a header to equalize. After that, the two sides started to attack, and in the 87th minute, substitute Fazzini fell in the penalty area to create a point, and Niang hit the penalty, and Empoli took the lead again 2:1. In stoppage time, home defender Manuel Pellegrino made a mistake and Empoli took advantage of the situation to launch a counter-attack, and Niang assisted Cancelleri's goal to make it 3-1.
In the standings, Empoli are in the relegation zone, and Salernitana are at the bottom of the table. Rounding out the top three in the table are the traditional top three of Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan. (ENDS).