Ten men Cittadella earn first victory of the season in Brescia, 0-1

Cittadella won their first match of the 2024/25 Serie B season in a 0-1 victory against Brescia on Saturday night.

The Granata played down a man for over 30 minutes after Nicola Pavan was sent off in the second half, but a 63rd minute goal from Lorenzo Carissoni gave Edoardo Gorini’s side three points. The victory is Cittadella’s first league win since April 6 against Reggiana.

“We all put our heart into the game and these three points gave us back what we lost in Salerno seven days ago,” Gorini said in his post-match press conference. “We could’ve even had a few more points, but today we were good and lucky to take home the win.”

Brescia had gone off to a flying start in their 2024/25 campaign, defeating Venezia and Palermo in their opening two games. La Leonessa started the match on the front foot, forcing Cittadella goalkeeper Elhan Kastrati to make an early save from Massimo Bertagnoli’s header. The follow-up shot from Dimitri Bisoli rattled the post from close range.

The hosts hit the bar for the second time from Gennaro Borrelli’s looping header in the 30th minute, rebounding off of Kastrati’s head. Both teams tallied 11 shots each in the first half, with Brescia hitting the bar twice.

“In the first 20 minutes we suffered a bit with the balls in-behind Masciangelo, but after the cooling break we fixed it,” Gorini said. “We limited Brescia well, building with our football. As long as we were numerically equal, we responded blow for blow, even in the second half.”

The match came to a turning point in the 58th minute when defender Nicola Pavan received his second yellow card of the match, putting the Granata down to ten men. This was Pavan’s first sending-off in his playing career.

Against the run of play, Cittadella took the lead through fullback Lorenzo Carissoni. Following an initial save from Luca Lezzerini, Carissoni’s strike found the net in the 63rd minute to give 10-men Cittadella the lead.

Brescia thought they had equalized in the second minute of stoppage time after substitute Flavio Bianchi tapped in a rebound inside the box. However, the goal was chalked off by VAR as the striker was found in an offside position.

Kastrati ended the match with seven saves and his first clean sheet since April. Cittadella also recorded their third ever win at the Stadio Mario Rigamonti against Brescia.

“After the red card the match changed,” Gorini said. “I’m happy because we brought home a great victory against a strong team and in a difficult place.”

Cittadella are back at home next Tuesday as the Granata host Pisa, while Brescia travel to Reggio Emilia to play Reggiana.

PHOTO: Stefano Nicoli/LaPresse