Serie A - US Palermo vs. Parma FC: Full Time report
Sebastian Giovinco started the game at Stadio Renzo Barbera from the kick off. The two sides looked in mood to attack however it was the home side that threatened first. Ilicic was given space to shoot after a good run by Javier Pastore
but the Slovenian shot off target in spite of a clear goal view in front of him.
Even before Rosanero could get over the miss, Ducal scored at the other end. Sebastian Giovinco’s excellent corner was headed in by Alessandro Lucarelli in the seventh minute. The hosts were stunned by the early goal and Parma took control
of the proceedings.
With Rosanero rearguard at sea against the talented Parma front men, Salvatore Sirigu had to make an excellent save from an Antonio Candreva. Palermo were unable to crack a resilient Ducali rearguard as Ilicic tried another long range
effort on 21st minute following good work by Miccoli. Palermo had their custodian to thank for midway through the first half as the Italian International goalkeeper had to be on his toes when a Sebastian Giovinco corner breached the
Palermo back line yet again.
Ilicic and Miccoli were the only Rosanero players showing any real intent and the later took a tumble in the Parma penalty area only to see the referee ignore his plea. Miccoli had gone down too easily for the official’s liking and play
was allowed to continue. Rosanero skipper was involved once again moments later as he tried an audacious overhead kick only to see his shot go wide off the goal.
Parma were retaining possession with excellence and Hernan Crespo showed his intelligent self of old when he teed up Angelo for a shot only to see the shot disappointingly wide. On 39 minute mark, Miccoli and Balzaretti combined to good
effect outside Parma box and released Pastore into space but the Argentine could only curl his shot off target. With little else happening for either team, referee Gabriele Gava brought the first half to a close.
Palermo had been extremely poor in the first half and Delio Rossi decided to stir his team to life by substituting Javier Pastore for Mauricio Pinilla at the start of the first half. The move was a big gamble and could have backfired but
with Rosanero chasing the game at home, Rossi was looking for inspiration from elsewhere on the pitch.
Palermo started the second half better of the two sides with super-sub Pinilla coming close with a header but the miss was just delaying the inevitable as that man Pinilla scored the equaliser in the 51st minute
from an Antonio Nocerino shot rebound. Following the equaliser, the two sides started a midfield battle and nothing noteworthy happened until Fabrizio Miccoli stunned the travelling fans with a goal to put the home side 2 – 1 up on scoreboard. The clock read
61 minutes and Rosanero had completed the comeback in just sixteen minutes. Pinilla was turning out to be an inspired substitution as it was his knock down that resulted in the goal.
Parma looked shocked following the second Palermo goal and Miccoli nearly added a third barely minutes later as his superb lob had to be cleared off the line by an alert Alessandro Lucarelli. Aquile were playing with fire in their bellies
and whatever Delio Rossi had said in the dressing room prior to the second half seemed to have worked wonders. The unplayable Ilicic tried his luck once more in the 67th minute but his rasping drive cannoned off the crossbar. Palermo
continued to impress while Ducali were left chasing the game.
In the 75th minute, Nocerino fouled Angelo and Parma were awarded a free kick. Sebastian Giovicno delivered yet another sublime set-piece. Hernan Crespo must have thought he had scored the equaliser but Salvatore
Sirigu made a wonder save from point-blank range. Barely two minutes later; the Italian custodian proved his pedigree yet again with a stunning save from an Antonio Candreva rocket. It was a man-of-the-match performance from Sirigu for he had kept Sicilians
from sinking without a trace in the first half and was now ensuring Aquile sustained the lead with some prodigious goalkeeping.
The result was sealed two minutes from time when Cristian Zaccardo scored an own-goal to pump out all the energy out off Ducali players. The four minutes added as stoppage time were not enough for any comeback as Palermo registered a truly
inspired comeback victory.
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