Chievo 0 : 1 Hellas Verona - Toni decides derby

Posted Sunday, April 06, 2014 by PA

Luca Toni's second-half strike earned Hellas Verona derby honours from their Serie A clash with Chievo.

Leading scorer Toni slotted home the only goal of the game from close range in the 65th minute to follow up his brace in last weekend's 3-0 victory over Genoa.

Saturday's 1-0 win at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi keeps promoted Hellas well in the hunt for an unexpected European place, while leaving rivals Chievo still deep in trouble near the foot of the table.

Neither side had been in the greatest of form in recent weeks, with Hellas picking up just one point from five games prior to their win over Genoa, while Chievo had lost three of their last four before this weekend.

It was therefore little surprise to see the first half pass by with barely a sniff of a goal at either end, with the only effort of note on target seeing Toni's 26th-header saved by Cheivo goalkeeper Michael Agazzi.

Toni was also the biggest threat after the break, and he headed a decent opening wide before being denied again by Agazzi in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

And, not surprisingly, it was the much-travelled former Italy international who ended up deciding the game as he got on the end of Fabrizio Cacciatore's right-wing cross to slot home past Agazzi for his 16th goal of the season.

That goal seemed to spark Chievo into action, and finally Hellas goalkeeper Rafael was given something to do as Cyril Thereau and Gennaro Sardo came close.

Chievo continued to push for an equaliser in the closing stages but Sergio Pellissier, Thereau and Ivan Radovanovic all saw their efforts go wide as Hellas held on for the points and the bragging rights.