Palermo won 3-1 against fellow Serie A strugglers Frosinone at the Stadio Renzo Barbera on Saturday evening.
Early goals from Edoardo Goldaniga and Franco Vazquez were enough to see the Sicilians hold a comfortable lead despite a comeback goal from Paolo Sammarco, before Aleksandar Trajkovski and Alberto Gilardino wrapped up the result to give coach Davide Ballardini his first win.
The game got off to a frantic start, as within just 40 seconds Uros Djurdjevic struck the post for the home side, after catching out the Frosinone midfield on an immediate break.
The warning shot came as a sign for things to come as Palermo then opened the scoring just four minutes later. The Rosanero were gifted a free kick on the edge of the area, to which Edoardo Goldaniga latched onto the end of, firing a powerful volley into the back of the net, though replays suggest the defender handled the ball in lead the up to his goal in addition to being offside.
Frosinone sparked into life an almost gave an immediate reaction through Modibo Diakite, who found himself in a similar position to that of Goldaniga just moments before, however, the Frenchman rushed his shot and fired over the bar from just metres out.
Despite the visitors resurgence, it was Palermo who were to score once more, Franco Vazquez capitalising on a poor piece of defending to fire home and make it 2-0. Paolo Sammarco hit back to half the home side’s lead minutes later, knocking in a rebound from Federico Dionisi’s long-range strike.
The action wasn’t to end there either, as Leonardo Blanchard was then incorrectly sent off just five minutes from the break. Referee Daniele Doveri gave the defender his marching orders after blowing his whistle for two separate fouls, one of which Blanchard had no involvement in, before recalling the red after a lengthy discussion with the second official.
The game’s tempo slowed down in the second half, with both sides wasting numerous chances to further the scoreline. Daniel Ciofani could have made it 2-2, but the Canarini striker headed wide from just yards out.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Macedonian international Aleksandar Trajkovski produced a wonderful strike on the hour mark to punish the wasteful visitors and gift his side their third goal of the match, as he curled the ball into the right hand corner from a tight angle outside the box.
Substitute Alberto Gilardino then made it a fourth in the final minutes of the match, smashing his shot past Nicola Leali, following some confusion in the penalty area.
The result sends Palermo to 14th while Frosinone are in 18th and the relegation zone.
