Nothing to do for Palermo. Against Spezia, in the midweek round of Serie B on May 1st, the rosanero left the “Alberto Picco” stadium defeated and lined up their second consecutive debacle, after the one against Reggiana. Since Mignani arrived on the Sicilian bench, Palermo’s score is three draws and two defeats. The victory for the pinks hasn’t come since the 10th of March, or for almost two months.
The results do not prove Palermo’s new coach right and the performances are equally disappointing. The Rosanero against Spezia shot only once on target and they never give the impression of being dangerous. In the match against the Bianconeri there was also a lot of nervousness on the pitch, with the Palermo fans asking for greater commitment in yet another away match following their team.
A bad mistake by Lund decided the match against the team led by Luca D’Angelo. The American full-back misplaces his right foot towards Pigliacelli: Di Serio arrives on the ball and anticipates the exit of the Palermo goalkeeper and surpasses him with a perfect lob in the 16th minute of the first half.
This goal is enough for the home team to obtain three very important points with a view to survival. The Sicilians, absent in the first half, did not find their footing even in the second half and at the final whistle they had to deal with the supporters who followed the team in the Ligurian away match.
In the standings the situation still remains unchanged for Brunori and his teammates. The rosanero maintain sixth place with 52 points when there are two days left until the end of the regular season. The pursuers are still Brescia and Sampdoria, at 47 and 46 points respectively (they will be on the pitch from 6pm against Feralpisalò and Lecco). For Palermo it becomes necessary to return to winning, already on Sunday 5 May at home against Ascoli.
The scoreboard
SPICE: Zoet, Elia, Nagy, Esposito S., Vignali, Falcinelli (from 58′ Bandinelli), Di Serio (from 75′ Kouda), Mateju, Nikolaou (Cap.), Hristov, Verde (from 75′ Esposito P.). Available: Zovko, Wisniewski, Tanco, Esposito P., Cipot, Reca, Moro, Bandinelli, Candelari, Bertola, Kouda, Jagiello. Coach: D’Angelo.
PALERMO: Pigliacelli, Lund, Gomes (from 80′ Henderson), Lucioni, Segre, Brunori (Cap.; from 80′ Mancuso), Di Francesco, Diakité (from 86′ Traorè), Buttaro (from 62′ Ranocchia), Soleri, Ceccaroni. Available: Desplanches, Kanuric, Graves, Stulac, Mancuso, Insigne, Ranocchia, Marconi, Nedelcearu, Henderson, Traorè. Coach: Mignani.
REFEREE: Pezzuto (Lecce). AA1: Berti (Prato). AA2: Miniutti (Maniago). 4TH OFFICIAL: Lovison (Padua). VAR: Marini (Roma 1). AVAR: Longo S. (Paola).
MARKERS: 16′ Di Serio (S).
NOTE: Booked: S. Esposito (S), Vignali (S), Ranocchia (P), Di Serio (S), Mancuso (P), Di Francesco (P), Henderson (P).
The match
90′ + 7′ – Triple whistle from the referee. Spezia-Palermo ends 1-0
90′ + 5′ – Henderson is also booked
90′ – Yellow also for Di Francesco. Six minutes of extra time will then be assigned
88′ – Esposito S. tries directly from a free kick, saved by Pigliacelli
87′ – Yellow for Mancuso
86′ – Last substitution for the Sicilians, Traorè replaces Diakité
80′ – Two more changes also among the rosanero ranks. Brunori and Gomes leave the pitch and Mancuso and Henderson enter in their place
80′ – Pio Esposito touches the post to the right of Pigliacelli with a header
78′ – Di Francesco tries with a conclusion in the opponent’s area, ball out
75′ – Spezia opts for two more substitutions. Verde and Di Serio out, Pio Esposito and Kouda in
74′ – Nervousness on the pitch increases, yellow for Di Serio too
70′ – Yellow for Ranocchia
65′ – Vignali is booked
62′ – Mignani chooses Ranocchia who replaces Buttaro
58′ – Mister D’Angelo sends Bandinelli onto the pitch in place of Falcinelli
47′ – Esposito responds on the development of a free kick, ball just high over the crossbar
46′ – Diakité tries a shot on goal, rejects Zoet
4.03pm – No changes, teams back on the field. The recovery begins at the “Peak”
45′ + 1′ – The first half of the match between Spezia and Palermo ends. The home team took the lead after Lund’s error, but the Rosanero were absent both before and after the Bianconeri’s partial lead. Many, too many technical errors and practically nothing in the offensive maneuver of the team coached by Mignani
45′ – One minute of injury time awarded
34′ – Elia comes close to scoring with a strong right-footed shot that grazes the top corner of the goal defended by Pigliacelli
29′ – Yellow for Salvatore Esposito
26′ – A cross from Vignali almost turns into a goal, Pigliacelli takes a pass and saves
16′ – SPEZIA’S GOAL! Lund leans towards Pigliacelli but the pass is too slow, Di Serio pounces on the ball and with a dive anticipates the Palermo goalkeeper and gives the Bianconeri the lead
9′ – Bad mistake by Di Francesco who loses the ball near his own area, Elia recovers it and serves Verde who tries the set-piece with his left foot but misses the target from an ideal position
3.01pm – First ball entrusted to the home team, the match begins at the “Alberto Picco” stadium in La Spezia
2.59pm – Spezia and Palermo are on the pitch, usual greetings before the match
2.45pm – Return to the changing rooms, kick-off scheduled for 3.00pm
2.25pm – The teams enter the pitch to warm up
