Empoli move off foot of Serie A by beating fellow strugglers Crotone

Updated: May 17, 2024, 12:56 pm

Empoli moved off the bottom of Serie A with a 2-1 home victory over Crotone.

Central defenders Giuseppe Bellusci and Andrea Costa punished Crotone's fallibility at set-pieces to score with firm headers.

Bellusci, on loan from Leeds, met Manuel Pasqual's 31st-minute corner to thunder home Empoli's first goal of the season.

Giuseppe Bellusci scored as Empoli earned their first win.
Giuseppe Bellusci scored as Empoli earned their first win.
Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images

Promoted Crotone were hopeful of their maiden point in Serie A when substitute Mario Sampirisi delivered a deft header in first-half stoppage time.

But Costa profited from Pasqual's 56th-minute free kick and Crotone, who are now bottom of the table, were reduced to 10 men in the closing stages when Noe Dussenne received a second yellow card.