Cittadella drops into automatic relegation zone in costly Reggiana defeat

The last time Cittadella faced Reggiana, it ended in a 3-1 victory for the Venetians. The win on Dec. 21, 2024 lifted the Granata out of last place and would soon lift themselves outside the automatic relegation zone all together.

But now for the first time since late December, Alessandro Dal Canto’s men fall into the automatic drop zone following a 2-1 loss to Reggiana on Friday afternoon.

A three-goal second half brought life to the game after a scoreless opening 45 minutes. Similar to the reverse fixture, Reggiana striker Cedric Gondo got on the scoresheet for the hosts before Manolo Portanova sealed the victory on the stroke of stoppage time.

With four games remaining in the regular season, the Granata are level on 35 points with four other teams as Citta sit in 19th place.

“We lost a strange match,” Dal Canto said after the game. “In the first half, we were in control, then in second half we went behind after the first negative episode. We didn’t have a great reaction force and produced little.”

Cittadella outshot the hosts 8-3 in the opening half and came close to scoring in the 32nd minute when Reggiana goalkeeper Edoardo Motta pushed aside a quick shot from Francesco Amatucci. The Granata produced 0.33 expected goals (xG) before halftime while the Emilia-Romagnan’s calculated 0.16 xG.

Despite Citta‘s positive first half, Reggiana opened the scoring shortly after the hour mark through Gondo, sailing past Elhan Kastrati at the near post.

Until stoppage time, Cittadella failed to register a shot on target throughout the second half. Reggiana took advantage of the Granata‘s lack of threat and confirmed the victory in the 90th minute, where Portanova slotted home the insurance goal on a counter attack.

In the dying seconds of the match, Luca Pandolfi netted his seventh goal of the season, knocking in a loose ball over the goal line from a corner kick. However, the game ended before Citta could restart play.

The Granata return home on Thursday to face 15th-placed Brescia in what could be a decisive game in the race for survival.

“We lost a heavy match, now we have to be careful,” Dal Canto said. “We are playing on a knife edge and we also have to take into account the head-to-head standings.

“We are playing until the end. We need to recharge our batteries, even if today we swallow a bitter pill.”

TOP PHOTO: Massimo Felicetti / A.S. Cittadella