Unbeaten in their last five early Sunday afternoon kick-offs before this weekend, the slot continued to be kind to Parma as they welcomed Serie A back from its third international break of the season by beating Sassuolo in the latest Emilia-Romagna derby and, as a result, have climbed into sixth place.
European football might still be an over-the-top dream but with Gervinho in their starting XI Parma have been allowed to fantasise, with the Ivorian again proving pivotal.
The atmosphere at the Stadio Ennio Tardini was electric early on and it was only amplified by the Gialloblu taking a lead within six minutes of kick-off.
Gervinho has looked at home from his first appearance at the Tardini this season and he again found himself on the scoresheet – for the fourth time in five games in front of his own fans this season – to send Parma on their way.
Captain Bruno Alves made it two with 25 minutes played, managing to scramble home a messy goal from close range to get off the mark for the Crociati as he found the net for the first time since May.
Parma’s dominance then faded somewhat and Sassuolo were handed a lifeline after referee Paolo Valeri, with some assistance from VAR, awarded the Neroverdi a penalty. Oddly, it was Kouma Babacar and not Kevin-Prince Boateng who stepped up but he made no mistake in sending Luigi Sepe the wrong way to halve the deficit.
De Zerbi’s boys are disjointed
After an impressive start to the 2018/19 season, Sassuolo have reverted to the mean and the only win in their last seven games came against Giampiero Ventura’s Chievo, which in itself is barely a feat worth celebrating.
Granted, AC Milan, Napoli, Sampdoria and Lazio have hardly presented easy opposition, but it’s fair to have expected more from a side with Prince, Domenico Berardi, Federico Di Francesco, Khouma Babacar and more in their ranks.
While they remain eighth after the final whistle, they could fall further before the end of the weekend with just two points separating them from Torino in 11th.
Parma rule the region
With Gervinho Parma have been allowed to dream and although they are still missing players of real next-level ability in every part of their team, the Ivorian allows them to strike even at moments of inferiority.
His pace is no secret, but there is little opposing sides can do about it when he gets going and he gets the Tardini faithful on their feet and allows his teammates to flood forward in attack.
Now with just two defeats from their last 12 games at the Tardini, Parma will be quietly looking to maintain their early momentum and maybe even challenge the European contenders come the season’s end.
