Mauricio Pinilla and Abel Hernandez scored to seal a 2-0 victory for Palermo over struggling Lecce in Serie A on Thursday night.
Pinilla and Hernandez on target in 2-0 home victory
Mauricio Pinilla and Abel Hernandez scored to seal a 2-0 victory for Palermo over struggling Lecce in Serie A on Thursday night.
Palermo had slipped into the bottom half after losing their last two matches, but proved too strong for Lecce in Sicily to move up to seventh.
The result also extended Lecce's winless run to six games and leaves under-pressure manager Eusebio Di Francesco's side second from bottom in the standings.
However, the result was quite harsh on Lecce who, only days after throwing away a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 against AC Milan, wasted numerous chances to get at least a draw at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.
The game started better for Palermo, though, before Lecce improved in the second half.
Eros Pisano went close to giving the home side the lead in the 22nd minute when he met a left-wing corner with his head, but a combination of Massimiliano Benassi and Chris Obodo managed to prevent the ball from crossing the goal-line.
On the spot
Five minutes later, a foul by Nenad Tomovic on Hernandez inside the penalty area left the referee little choice but to offer the Rosanero a penalty - and Pinilla opened the scoring from the spot.
Obodo tested Palermo goalkeeper Alexander Tzorvas for the first time with a shot from 35 yards out in the 32nd minute and Daniele Corvia lifted the rebound over the crossbar.
Lecce were not going to accept defeat without a fight, as they showed early in the second half when Ignacio Piatti shot just wide of the post.
However, as they committed men forward in search of an equaliser, the home side were able to find more room on the counter-attack and Eran Zahavi set up Hernandez for the second goal in the 77th minute.
Even at 2-0 down, Lecce continued to attack with Andrea Bertolacci curling a shot just over the crossbar in the 89th minute and coming close again in stoppage time, but the Apulian side failed to find even a consolation to go with their spirited performance.
