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Cremonese 3-0 Pisa

Jamie Vardy's first goal since January paved the way for a potentially crucial Cremonese victory that keeps safety hopes alive, but Pisa went down to nine men.

The hosts were given a lifeline with Lecce's defeat to Juventus last night, so a victory here would put them within a point of their major rivals for safety. The season was over for Federico Baschirotto with a thigh strain in the heart-breaking 2-1 loss to Lazio, joining Faris Moumbagna on the treatment table, but Jamie Vardy was back in the starting XI for the first time since March 8.

Already-relegated Pisa missed Matteo Tramoni, Marius Marin and Daniel Denoon.

See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.

Rosen Bozhinov had a nightmare start to the match, because he received two yellow cards in the opening 24 minutes, leaving Pisa down to 10 men for over an hour.

Cremonese could not waste this gift, so began to pour forward, Alberto Grassi's scorcher parried by Adrian Semper with difficulty.

They broke through when Giuseppe Pezzella controlled a long ball and laid it off to the edge of the area, where Vardy was ready to sweep into the far bottom corner first-time with his weaker left foot. It was his first goal since early January.

Cremonese had two more huge opportunities on the stroke of half-time, as Semper got away with a couple of howlers. He slipped during a clearance, so Simone Canestrelli made a goal-line clearance on Bonazzoli's lob, then flapped hopelessly at the following corner, only for Matteo Bianchetti to nod over.

They did make a counter-attack stick after the restart, as Vardy sent Vandeputte running, he rolled across for Bonazzoli to take a touch and sweep in from 10 yards.

Pisa were reduced to nine men as Loyola lunged two-footed into a clumsy tackle on Pezzella, prompting a straight red card.

Alessio Zerbin's cross-shot tested Semper and Vardy was given a standing ovation from the home fans, while Federico Barbieri forced a save with his long-range strike.

David Okereke added a third late on when he dribbled past the weak Hojholt and surprised Semper from the tightest of angles with the inside of the right boot.

Cremonese 3-0 Pisa

Vardy 31 (C), Bonazzoli 51 (C), Okereke 87 (C)

Sent off: Bozhinov 24 (P), Loyola 57 (P)