Benevento relegated after late Crotone winner

Benevento’s 1-0 victory over AC Milan on Saturday was not enough to prevent their relegation from Serie A, which was confirmed by Crotone’s 2-1 win at Udinese on Sunday.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side picked up their first away league triumph of the season at San Siro courtesy of Pietro Iemmello’s strike, keeping their slim survival hopes intact despite Cheick Diabate’s dismissal with 10 minutes remaining.

However, their maiden campaign in Italy’s top flight was guaranteed to end in relegation after Davide Faraoni’s 86th-minute winner against Udinese put 17th-place Crotone 14 points clear of Benevento with just four games left.

That De Zerbi failed to keep the club up comes as little surprise after they endured the worst start to a Serie A season in history, losing their first 14 matches and firing Marco Baroni after nine of them.

Benevento failed to earn a single point until they drew 2-2 with Milan courtesy of goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli’s stoppage-time header on December 3, with their first win coming four matches later against Chievo.

The club still have an important role to play in the relegation battle as they face Udinese, SPAL and Chievo in three of their four remaining games.