Palermo defeated Chievo 1-0 in Wednesday evening’s Serie A game at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.
Luca Rigoni scored the only goal of the game for Giuseppe Iachini’s men after 82 minutes with a powerful strike from the edge of the penalty area.
Both sides started the game showing real intent to attack with Chievo’s Maxi Lopez going close on a couple of occasions and Andrea Belotti getting a shot on target for Palermo.
The home side threatened again after 12 minutes when the ever-eager Michel Morganella burst into Chievo box on the right hand side and fired a low drive across Francesco Bardi’s goal however the young keeper was able to get down sharply and make the save.
Paulo Dybala was next to go close for the Rosanero six minutes later with a shot from the edge of the area as they began to look the more likely to break the deadlock.
Although the quality of finishing was lacking, both teams were contributing to an honest game with plenty of tackles and a willingness to get forward whenever possible.
The Flying Donkeys then produced their own threat on 34 minutes when Valter Birsa struck an excellent left-footed volley from twenty yards and Stefano Sorrentino had to be at full stretch to keep it out.
The rest of the half played out at a slower pace with both sides seemingly happy to go in level at half-time.
The second half picked up were the first half left off with both sides threatening early on but ultimately being off-target with long-range efforts.
The lively Dybala again came close to scoring after 67 minutes when his fiercely struck shot hit the crossbar, with Bardi diverting the resulting danger.
The home side thought they’d broken the deadlock from the resulting corner when the ball was forced into the net however referee Sebastiano Peruzzo disallowed the goal, seemingly for a soft-looking foul on Bardi.
As the game entered the final ten minutes, neither side was keeping the ball particularly well but Palermo continued to look the more likely to get the elusive first goal.
This proved to be the case on 82 minutes when the finally did break the deadlock with Rigoni’s goal.
A Dybala shot rebounded to Rigoni on the edge of the Chievo penalty area and the midfielder sent a right-footed shot soaring into the top right corner of Bardi’s goal to give his side the lead.
Rolando Maran’s men were unable to muster a response in the remaining minutes and the home side held on for a 1-0 victory and a valuable three points.
Follow Allan Eccles on Twitter: @bookedforsim
