Verona boosts survival chances with 2

MILAN (AP) — Hellas Verona boosted its chances of Serie A survival with a 2-1 win over Fiorentina as fellow strugglers Empoli and Frosinone played out a disappointing 0-0 draw on Sunday.

All three teams had been locked on 31 points ahead of the weekend, just two points above the relegation zone.

Verona was helped by Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano opting to rotate his team ahead of the second leg of the Europa Conference League semifinal on Wednesday. Fiorentina beat Club Brugge 3-2 in the first leg last week.

And the visitors gifted Verona the opener Sunday in the 13th minute when, in a mix-up with Fiorentina defender Luca Ranieri, goalkeeper Oliver Christensen failed to gather an innocuously seeming long ball and instead brought down Tijjani Noslin. Darko Lazović converted the resulting penalty.

Gaetano Castrovilli, who had earlier hit the post, leveled shortly before halftime for his first goal since returning recently from a knee injury that had sidelined him for almost a year.