A 93rd-minute goal from Vincenzo Italiano handed Chievo a crucial victory over 10-man Reggina in their basement battle at Stadio Oreste Granillo.
The struggling teams, who were locked on 13 points at the foot of Serie A going into the match, appeared to be equally inseparable as the clock ticked deep into injury-time.
A point would have been just reward for Reggina who battled gamely for 50 minutes after Chilean midfielder Carlos Carmona was sent off for petulantly kicking the ball at Chievo's Luca Rigoni.
But Italiano stunned the home fans as he collected the ball on the edge of the area following a Chievo corner and directed a stunning shot into the top left-hand corner of Andrea Campagnolo's goal.
The result means Domenico Di Carlo's men climb a place to 18th while dejected Reggina stay rooted at the bottom of the pile.
After recording just three wins in their opening 19 games - the same as their opponents - Reggina knew a confidence-boosting victory would be vital to their survival hopes and they started well, striker Francesco Cozza blasting a low free-kick marginally wide of the upright in the fifth minute.
The visitors from Verona were next to threaten although Giampiero Pinzi's shot from 18 yards after a sharp turn was lacking the power to trouble Campagnolo.
A lively start to the match continued and in the eighth minute Chievo came within a whisker of taking the lead.
A swift counter-attack culminated with Brazilian Luciano finding Sergio Pellissier, who ignored calls for offside to cut in from the right and fire a shot across goal which bounced to safety off the post.
The same pair combined soon afterward but Pellissier could not find the target under pressure, while Reggina's Bruno Cirillo fired a powerful effort narrowly wide from a full 35 yards.
Bernardo Corradi headed wide from Alessio Sestu's cross on the half-hour before the complexion of the game changed completely with Carmona's foolish dismissal four minutes before the break.
Chievo attempted to push home the one-man advantage and Campagnolo had to be alert to stop Pellissier's effort from Andrea Mantovani's center seven minutes after the interval.
Reggina almost took a shock lead after 61 minutes, however, when Antonino Barilla embarked on a brilliant run down the left which saw him beat three men before firing in a shot which Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino pushed around his near post.
Nigeria striker Stephen Makinwa, on loan from Lazio, came on for his Chievo debut with 25 minutes left and he latched onto Italiano's through ball late on, only for Carlos Valdez to make a crucial tackle.
Simone Bentivoglio brushed the upright for the visitors with a shot from the edge of the area as the match entered the final 10 minutes, while Makinwa tested the diving Campagnolo with a low effort from distance.
It looked as though Reggina would claim a hard-earned point until Italiano struck a blow that Giuseppe Pillon's team will surely struggle to get back up from in their battle for survival.
