‘Head and heart’ shouted the headline in the local newsletter ahead of Spezia’s home game against Sampdoria.

Both were on display as Gianluca Lapadula’s double secured a 2-0 win that took Spezia one step closer to catching Pisa in second, and Samp nearer to the Serie C-shaped abyss.

Spezia were hoping to seize on Pisa’s shock home defeat by Modena 24 hours prior and bring themselves closer to automatic promotion.

A vociferous home crowd brought the energy, and Luca D’Angelo’s men responded despite the coach being banned from pitch-side, sitting up among the press.

The 35-year-old Lapadula had an early header saved by Sampdoria stopper Alessio Cragno.

Sampdoria are fighting for their lives, hoping to avoid becoming the first major club to fall into the third tier of the Italian game through a straightforward relegation – not connected to bankruptcy. Confidence is low, and naturally the hosts had the majority of the ball in the opening stages.

Filippo Bandinelli let off a rocket of a shot from distance that was sailing into the top corner, matched only by a fantastic save from Cragno.

For the visitors, M’Baye Niang showed glimpses of the form he hinted at earlier in his career with Milan, making darting runs and peeling off the last defender. 

Now 30 years old and with Samp the latest club in a journeyman career, Niang demonstrated he is more than good enough for this level, and had a shot well saved by Stefano Gori.

Spezia passed the ball around with a verve and precision that demonstrated why they are challenging Pisa for second spot. Yet they also have the grit required to fight their way out of Serie B.

On two occasions Salvatore Elia and Petko Hristov put their body on the line inside their own penalty box to block Samp shots, both acts gained a huge round of applause from the Curva Ferrovia 

Spezia’s promotion charge has been built on the back of making the Stadio Alberto Picco something of a fortress. Only two league defeats at home all season has helped D’Angelo’s men keep pace with Pisa. 

Yet like Pisa, they have started to stumble in the final stretch. Catanzaro and Brescia managed to beat the Aquile in recent weeks, and the goals have somewhat dried up for top scorer Francesco Pio Esposito, with only one in the last six games.

To give Samp credit they dug in. Yet in the 56th minute, a beautiful move involving Lapadula, Esposito and Nicolo Bertola on the edge of the box saw the latter slide the ball out to Elia. 

The winger floated a perfect cross into the middle of the box to the head of Giuseppe Aurelio. His header was goal bound, the crowd believed the net was soon to bulge. Yet they didn’t factor in the reflexes of Cragno, who produced a stunning save, the ball deflecting off the keeper and out for a corner.

Aurelio really should have scored. The impressive Elia was also guilty of wasting a chance, when the ball flashed across goal, the winger hit his shot into the ground and watched it bounce over the crossbar.

The pressure was building and the goal did eventually arrive, through the instincts of old-timer Lapadula.

An in-swinging free-kick was met by the foot of Hristov on the right, who cushioned the ball back across the box for the unmarked Lapadula to slot into the empty net from two yards out.

It was his first goal for Spezia since arriving in January from Cagliari. In typical fashion, he did not need long to get his second.

Six minutes later amid mounting pressure from the home side, the ball fell kindly to the former AC Milan striker inside the box and, with no Samp defender in sight, Lapadula had the time to chest it down and smash a volley under Cragno to extend the advantage.

The energy from the home side was intoxicating, the proverbial 12th man urging them on.

Esposito, not wanting to be upstaged by Lapadula, promptly smashed the bar with a shot from the edge of the area that bounced down and out. He later found the net but the goal was ruled out for handball in the lead-up.

But Spezia’s job was already done by the time Przemysław Wisniewski was sent off for a second booking with five minutes left.

The gap to Pisa is now five points with six games remaining. Moreover, Spezia arguably have the easier run-in, with Pisa having to go to Bari and Brescia while hosting in-form Frosinone.

The remaining weeks of the season will be fraught for both sides, the pressure cranking up with promotion to Serie A still up for grabs.

Yet as Pisa coach Pippo Inzaghi pointed out on Saturday, his side are still in control of their own destiny. But make no mistake, Spezia will keep chipping away. 

Can Pisa hold their nerve? Spezia, on a very pleasant Sunday in Liguria, showed they can.