Palermo drew Sampdoria 1- at the Stadio Renzo Barbera on Sunday evening.
The hosts opened the scoring with an early Paulo Dybala goal and even though Vasco Regini was sent off just before half time, Daniele Gastaldello’s late equaliser gave the visitors a point.
Palermo got off to a dream start when Paulo Dybala went clean through on goal in the seventh minute after getting on the end of a looping ball that caught out Sampdoria’s high line.
The young Argentine demonstrated his pace to keep clear of the defenders and he had the composure to slide the ball past Emiliano Viviano into the far corner of the net.
Sampdoria came close to levelling just a minute later when Stefano Okaka slid to get on the end of a low cross from the left flank but the ball just eluded the striker.
The visitors put the ball in the net in the 20th minute from a corner but Gastaldello’s goal was ruled out for obstruction by Eder.
Samp continued to look dangerous and Pedro Obiang found space in the Palermo area but his low drive was bravely blocked and Stefano Sorrentino was able to collect the ball comfortably.
Palermo almost doubled their lead on the 30 minute mark with a long shot from Edgar Barreto that flew narrowly wide of the far post.
The Aquile forwards asked questions of the away side’s defence and Samp coach Sinisa Mihajlovic looked agitated by the problems Dybala was causing and Vasco Regini was booked for fouling the goalscorer.
Samp were reduced to 10 men in the 40th minute as Vasco Regini was given his second yellow card for handball on the halfway line when a high ball bounced off the ground and hit the 23-year-old on the arm.
The Sampdoria players and staff were clearly angered by the decision and surrounded the referee to protest the dismissal as they felt the handball was unintentional.
Eder made space for himself two minutes after the restart but his low ball across the face of goal was pounced upon by Sorrentino to deny Okaka a tap in.
Dybala had a clear sight of goal in the 48th minute after controlling a long diagonal pass and beating a man but Lorenzo De Silvestri hooked the ball out for a corner just as the striker looked set to double the Rosanero’s lead.
Palermo started to control the rhythm going into the final 20 minutes and the 10 men of Sampdoria were limited mostly to long balls that were comfortably dealt with by the Rosanero.
The Aquile had a good chance in the 77th minute when the ball was headed back to Franco Vazquez at the top of the area but his first-time shot narrowly missed the target.
Sampdoria won a corner with 10 minutes left and Okaka was booked for flooring a Palermo defender amidst a scuffle as the sides waited for the delivery which amounted to nothing when it arrived.
Gastaldello then silenced the home fans in the first minute of injury time after De Silvestri knocked the ball down to his defensive partner at the far post who took one touch to control and hit it home with his left foot to earn Samp a point.
