Empoli and Palermo drew 0-0 at the Stadio Castellani on Saturday night in Serie A, as both teams were fairly happy to obtain a point.
The hosts had not won in 10 games, and despite the motivations to do well, there were hardly any significant chances during the 90 minutes.
Marco Giampaolo’s men started off the more active side, piling together three corners in the first 11 minutes, one of them leading to a fairly good chance, with Mario Rui shooting wide.
A lot of fouls and mistakes followed for the next 30 minutes, interrupted only on 18 minutes by a Robin Quaison header from a good position that went easily in the goalkeeper’s hands, a chance that should have been scored.
On 32 minutes it was Leandro Paredes who attempted a shot from wide range, with Stefano Sorrentino having no problems in blocking the ball.
Two minutes later Palermo reacted, with a precise Franco Vazquez shot going just centimetres wide.
Not much happened in the first 45 minutes, as the feeling was that both teams lacked offensive ambition.
The second half started as the first had ended, at a slow pace.
On 50 minutes Massimo Maccarone attempted to give Sorrentino some troubles with a shot from just outside the box, but it ended calmly in the goalkeepers hands.
Only two minutes later Piotr Zielinski’s shot from inside the box was somehow blocked by the Rosanero defenders, this being the best chance so far for the 1-0.
Empoli started pushing slightly more, but often were imprecise when getting close to the opponent’s goal.
Palermo attempted a reaction on 77 minutes, with Vazquez who shot from a close angle after going past Mario Rui, but the shot was too slow to bother Lukasz Skorupski.
The Rosanero had the best chance just a minute later, with Aljaz Struna collecting a pass from Vazquez in the middle of the box but firing high over the bar from just metres away. A colossal chance for Novellino’s men.
The final minutes went by with substitutions and little emotions from either side, with Empoli and Palermo sharing a point each.
