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Verona boosts survival chances with 2-1 win over Fiorentina. Roma hosts Juventus later

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Soccer News (AP)

MILAN (AP) - Hellas Verona boosted its chances of Serie A survival with a 2-1 win over Fiorentina as fellow strugglers Empoli and Frosinone played out a disappointing 0-0 draw on Sunday.

All three teams had been locked on 31 points ahead of the weekend, just two points above the relegation zone.

Verona was helped by Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano opting to rotate his team ahead of the second leg of the Europa Conference League semifinal on Wednesday. Fiorentina beat Club Brugge 3-2 in the first leg last week.

And the visitors gifted Verona the opener Sunday in the 13th minute when, in a mix-up with Fiorentina defender Luca Ranieri, goalkeeper Oliver Christensen failed to gather an innocuously seeming long ball and instead brought down Tijjani Noslin. Darko Lazovic converted the resulting penalty.

Gaetano Castrovilli, who had earlier hit the post, leveled shortly before halftime for his first goal since returning recently from a knee injury that had sidelined him for almost a year.

Verona restored its lead in the 59th when Nikola Milenkovic could only send Darko Lazovic's cross as far as Noslin, who thumped it into the roof of the net.

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Verona moved five points clear of 18th-place Udinese, which hosts Napoli on Monday. Sassulo was level with Udinese after surprisingly beating newly crowned Serie A champion Inter Milan on Saturday.

Empoli and Frosinone were three points above the drop zone with three rounds remaining.

Cagliari has just a point more than them after it conceded a late goal to draw 1-1 against Lecce after playing the entire second half with 10 men. Winger Gianluca Gaetano was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Lecce midfielder Ylber Ramadani shortly before halftime.

Cagliari had been leading through Yerry Mina's strike but Lecce laid siege to the goal after the break and Nikola Krstovic eventually leveled with six minutes remaining. Lecce also hit the post twice in the dying minutes.

At the other end of the table, Roma will be looking for a win against third-place Juventus later Sunday to boost its chances of qualifying for the Champions League. AC Milan played Genoa.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer

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