Bari could very well draw their way to promotion. Only Catanzaro and Modena have drawn as many games as Moreno Longo’s men, and such is the relative competitiveness of the league, those 12 stalemates have been enough to see the Biancorossi sit inside the play-off positions.

Their six wins is the joint-fewest from any team in the top 10 (again along with Catanzaro), and their last outing was, inevitably, a draw.

Bari had taken the lead away to Cesena through a smartly-taken goal from Andrea Favilli, his second goal of the campaign. The home side then had a mountain to climb when Giacomo Calo was shown his marching orders after the midfielder was adjudged to have used his elbow on Bari’s Cesar Falletti.

It seemed a somewhat harsh red card, but off he went and Cesena were up against it. Yet remarkably the home side played better with the 10 men, and piled the pressure on Bari in the hope of nabbing an equaliser. Antonino La Gumina, who’d just signed for the club after finding space difficult at Sampdoria, came off the bench to rescue point from the penalty spot following a scrum in the middle of the penalty area that saw Nosa Obaretin haul the forward down.

La Gumina stepped up to send Boris Radunovic the wrong way seven minutes from the end to deny Bari a victory.

Next up for the Galletti is a home game against struggling Frosinone at the Stadio San Nicola, and Longo really needs three points.

Bari’s game against Cesena followed a familiar pattern: score and then concede late in the second half. This is a movie that’s played out before. In fact, five times Bari have been in front only to end the game in a draw this season.

Goalscoring has been a major issue for the Puglia side this season: only seven times they’ve scored more than once in a game. Longo, to his credit, has taken responsibility for his side’s inability to protect leads during the closing stages of games.

“It seems stupid to always repeat the same things,” said a frustrated Longo following the Cesena draw. “We must and I must find a different way to make the team understand. 

“I’m the first to take responsibility, but it’s not acceptable not to close games and leave it open.”

Longo also spoke on Bari’s wastefulness in front of goal, saying: “There’s a lack of courage in the last 25 metres, it’s a mental problem.”

Frosinone, meanwhile, travel south on the back of a 3-0 hiding from fellow relegation battlers Sudtirol at home. The former Serie A side are enduring a nightmare season, with the Roman outfit languishing second-from-bottom and with only one win in the last seven.

There had been rumours of the club possibly sacking coach Leandro Greco, but those were dispelled. Yet the result against Sudtirol was the club’s fourth 3-0 defeat of the season, and it’s obvious that results cannot continue.

One of those 3-0 defeats was at the hands of Bari in September. The Biancorossi travelled to the Stadio Benito Stirpe and emerged victorious, with goals coming from Mattia Maita, Mehdi Dorval and Favilli.

Greco’s men really need a win to drag themselves out of the relegation zone, while Bari also need three points to break the current streak of draws. Yet the outcome could likely be another stalemate – something that doesn’t suit either side.

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