Despite hobbling off in Lecce’s 2-0 defeat against Verona last weekend, Samuel Umtiti was available for selection, but his presence wasn’t enough to prevent Lecce from falling behind inside five minutes.
Boulaye Dia was the beneficiary of some handy Lassana Coulibaly work before firing home from the edge of the area.
Lecce could proudly say they were one of a handful of Serie A sides not to have conceded more than twice in a league game this term, but that record looked to be coming under serious threat when Tonny Vilhena latched upon Dia’s deft ball to double Salernitana’s advantage.
At 2-0 down, Lecce were in real danger of being cut adrift in this contest, but Gabriel Strefezza did at least soothe those fears when he struck home to half the arrears.
Salernitna weren’t happy to just sit on their one goal lead and the visitors came tantalisingly close to nosing two goals ahead when Antonio Candreva’s fierce strike looked destined to nestle in the net, but his effort just didn’t have enough dip on it to drop beneath the cross bar.
It was almost like a game of basketball at times with Lecce going hell for leather for an equaliser and getting picked off on the break, but with 30 minutes left on the clock, Salernitana were looking good value to leapfrog Lecce in the table.
As both sides continued to trade blows in the closing stages, Lecce were becoming increasingly desperate, highlighted by Lorenzo Colombo’s pop-shot from 30 yards, which was easily gathered by Guillermo Ochoa.
The Salernitana stopper was no more than an interested spectator when Federico Di Francesco let fly though, but fortunately for the Mexican, his effort drifted inches wide of the post in what proved to be Lecce’s last meaningful sight of goal as they slumped to successive league defeats.
As for Salernitana, they will be delighted that the league’s leakiest defence withstood nearly 60 minutes of pressure to secure a crucial three points in their battle to beat the drop.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Boulaye Dia (Salernitana)
