Palermo drew with Udinese 1-1 at the Stadio Friuli in Udine on Saturday night in Serie A action.
Josip Ilicic’s 33rd minute strike appeared to have the Rosanero on course for victory after Thomas Heurtaux was sent off for the Zebrette on 61 minutes, but a heroic late goal from the talismanic Antonio Di Natale salvaged a point for the home side.
On 4 minutes Palermo claimed the first opportunity of the match, Fabrizio Miccoli firing just wide of the near post from 16 yards on the turn.
Soon after Udinese surged forward on the break, pulling the Rosanero defense apart with a lightning quick move, but Roberto Pereyra’s final touch in the penalty area from Danilo’s pass was too heavy and the ball crossed the byline for an innocuous goal kick.
The home side threatened once again as Di Natale employed a deft shoulder feint to elude Steve Von Bergen and let fly with a left-footed effort, but the veteran captain went just off-target. Minutes later, the prolific 35 year-old whipped a dangerous ball across the face of goal, but Dusan Basta arrived too late to turn in with Samir Ujkani out of position.
Ezequel Munoz bounced a header over the crossbar from a corner for the visitors, whilst Ilicic failed to test Zeljko Brkic from distance after a strong run from the Slovenian.
Massimo Donati and Miccoli each went for goal from long range as the visitors began to make their presence felt in Udinese, but Brkic was able to gather the central efforts rather easily.
On 33 minutes, however, another Palermo shot from beyond the edge of the box finally paid off. Ilicic cut inside from the right flank to tee-up a left-footed strike that Brkic made a mess of, allowing the ball to bounce over him and into the back of the net as he went to ground.
Moments after the opening goal, Miccoli had a free-kick blocked away, whilst a series of corners for the Sicilians came to nothing.
Basta went just wide of the far post from 20 yards out for Udinese, and Danilo followed suit in firing over from close range.
Francesco Guidolin replaced Emmanuel Badu with the pacy Luis Muriel on 41 minutes to provide more offensive firepower.
Close to halftime Di Natale had an opportunity with a free-kick from a dangerous position, but curled past the post as the chance went begging.
Fabrizio Miccoli did not return for the second half , as Franco Brienza replaced the diminutive striker after the break.
On 50 minutes, the home side thought they had equalized from Maurizio Domizzi’s diving header after Ujkani had pushed a Giovanni Pasquale half-volley onto the post, but the flag went up and the Rosanero maintained their advantage.
Giampiero Pinzi was thwarted by Ujkani, whilst a crucial last-second intervention from Danilo stopped Brienza from goal for goal from close range.
Disaster struck for Guidolin’s men, however, in the 61st minute. Heurtaux slid into a challenge on Santiago Garcia with his studs raised, clearly catching the Argentine solidly on the ankle and inflicting quite a bit of pain. The referee gave the French defender his marching orders for his second yellow of the day, reducing the Zebrette to 10 men.
Udinese found life difficult short handed as Brienza, Jasmin Kurtic, Edgar Barreto, and substitute Arevalo Rios all went close to finding a second for the Rosanero.
Garcia found it impossible to continue after attempting to run off the knock picked up when Heurtaux was dismissed, and thus made way for Luigi Giorgi. On the other side, Maicosuel came on for Roberto Pereyra to attempt to infuse energy in the downtrodden hosts.
Yet the Sicilians continued to run rampant in the offensive third, whilst Udinese struggled to must even a single shot. Only a series of absolutely stunning saves from Brkic kept Ilicic, Rios, and Pisano from extending Palermo’s 1-0 lead.
In the 89th minute, however, Udinese’s savior came to their rescue once again. Ujkani beat away a Muriel volley for the Colombian to head back across the face of goal. The keeper claimed easily, but made a massive mistake in spilling the ball when he hit the ground for a jubilant Di Natale to smash home.
