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Palermo coach Devis Mangia
The Sicilians’ troubles away from home grew following their latest derby defeat at Catania. Palermo haven’t won at Catania’s Stadio Massimino since 2007, but coach Devis Mangia will more likely be more concerned as to why his team have struggled to win away from home this season in Serie A.
Their latest defeat in Italy’s top-flight arrived on Sunday afternoon against their local rivals. Mangia’s men were hoping to use the derby of Sicily as a way of bouncing back from their midweek Coppa Italia loss against Siena.
However, Catania’s Francesco Lodi and Maxi Lopez struck either side of the interval to ensure the misery continues for Palermo. The match ended 2-0 and the result smacks of continued failure away from the Renzo Barbera stadium.
It seems the Sicilians have little liking in playing away from home. Striker Mauricio Pinilla summed it up perfectly when he said there are genuine problems on the road.
He said: “We are having difficulty playing away, but we will continue working on this with our coach.”
Pinilla was bold in his assessment, but some fans are already speaking of a hopeless future and a period of stagnation in Palermo.
There were hopes of qualifying for European football this season, but Mangia’s men have plenty to chew over this Christmas. However, before president Maurizio Zamparini serves his players a slice of cold turkey, they have to play Novara on Wednesday – sadly for them the game is away.
Meanwhile, at the top of the table Juventus are still in command as Antonio Conte’s men continue to smooth their way towards the title with a 2-0 win over Novara.
Simone Pepe is the driving force behind Juve as he chipped in with his fourth goal of the season. Fabio Quagliarella was also on target scoring for the first time in 12 months.
It was a polished performance from Juventus who were invincible at times as they exposed Novara’s growing problems at the foot of the table.
However, Milan are pushing Juventus at the top – a sign Conte’s men cannot lose touch with reality as the pressure mounts at the summit.
The Rossoneri made light work of Siena at San Siro with a 2-0 win. Antonio Nocerino, formerly of Palermo, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were the point winners on Saturday night as Massimiliano Allegri’s men keep Juve within reach.
On the other side of Milan, Inter are showing signs of a revival as they climb the table quietly. There was nothing to shout about following their narrow 1-0 away win over Cesena. Maicon and Andrea Ranocchia combined for the Italian defender to earn Claudio Ranieri’s men another win.
OTHER SCORES:
Chievo 2-0 Cagliari; Fiorentina 2-0 Atalanta; Genoa 2-1 Bologna; Parma 3-3 Lecce; Lazio 2-2 Udinese; Napoli 1-3 Roma.