Lecce beat Spal 2-1 in Serie A on Saturday to boost its chances of avoiding relegation.

Bottom club Spal’s troubles deepened as it slipped eight points from safety.

It was Lecce's third straight win but it remained three points above the drop zone after Genoa won 3-0 at nine-man Bologna.

Atalanta was playing Roma later in a key match for both teams’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. Atalanta went into the game in fourth place, three points ahead of Roma.

In Lecce, the home side took the lead at the end of the first half when it was awarded a penalty for Kevin Bonifazi’s trip on ?an Majer. Marco Mancosu successfully struck the ball into the top left corner.

Andrea Petagna headed in a corner two minutes after the break to equalize but Majer scored his first Serie A goal to restore Lecce’s lead for good in the 66th minute.

STUNNING GOAL

Antonio Sanabria scored a spectacular goal to help Genoa to its first away win of the season.

Sanabria scored Genoa’s second, just before halftime. The Paraguay forward started his run deep inside his own half and dribbled more than 70 meters before firing into the bottom left corner.

Adama Soumaoro had got the opener in the 28th.

Bologna played nearly an hour with 10 men after midfielder Jerdy Schouten was shown a straight red card for a studs-up tackle on Valon Behrami. The referee initially gave a yellow but changed his mind after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.

The home side ended the match with nine men when defender Stefano Denswil was given a second yellow card for a foul on Stefano Sturaro a minute from time. Domenico Criscito converted the resulting penalty.

Genoa moved a point behind city rival Sampdoria, which occupies the last safety position and hosts Fiorentina on Sunday.

Bologna, which had won its previous three matches, remained seventh.