AC Milan transfer target Mattia Destro bundled home a second-half leveler in a 1-1 draw away to US Citta di Palermo as AS Roma’s title hopes suffered a blow for the second consecutive week on Saturday.
Roma traveled to Sicily looking to get back to winning ways after battling to a 2-2 draw at home to SS Lazio the previous weekend, but a quickfire opener by Argentine Paulo Dybala had Roma trailing from the second minute and it took until nearly 10 minutes after the restart for Destro to equalize.
Roma’s fifth draw of the campaign left them in second place, but their two-point deficit on leaders Juventus would grow to five if the Serie A champions accounted for Hellas Verona yesterday.
Photo: EPA
Juventus hammered Verona 6-1 in the round-of-16 of the Coppa Italia last week, when Massimiliano Allegri rested strike pair Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente in anticipation of the Serie A clash.
With Roma hosting Empoli in the Coppa Italia tomorrow and an away trip to resurgent ACF Fiorentina next weekend, Roma coach Rudi Garcia admitted to Sky Sport: “We’re going to have to grit our teeth.”
“We didn’t play in the first half. We didn’t have any movement at all,” he said. “If we now come up against a side that has any confidence in itself and we give them a Christmas gift after Christmas, it will become a handicap. Thankfully, in the second half we played better, but we have to do better, otherwise we’ll keep on dropping points.”
Photo: AFP
Palermo coach Giuseppe Iachini was buoyed by his side’s performance.
“It was a great game and the lads did very well,” Iachini said. “We’re a little disappointed at conceding the goal, which to me seemed a little offside, but otherwise I have no cause for complaint.”
With midfielders Daniele de Rossi and Radja Nainggolan suspended and captain Francesco Totti on the bench following a bout of flu, Roma coach Rudi Garcia was forced to hand rare starts to Kevin Strootman, Carlos Paredes and Destro.
Palermo started brightly, but were practically gifted the opening goal when defender Davide Astori’s pass was intercepted by Franco Vazquez. His through-ball for Dybala allowed the 21-year-old to waltz in and beat Morgan de Sanctis at his near post.
It was Dybala’s eighth goal in nine games and his 10th league goal of the season, further underlining his status as a major transfer target for several top English clubs.
Palermo came close to doubling their lead minutes before halftime when a firm header from Osvaldo Barreto forced De Sanctis into a flying save at his top-right corner.
Roma came out firing in the second half and were repaid on 54 minutes when Destro slid in to bundle Strootman’s header from the right byline past Stefano Sorrentino in the Palermo goal — his fifth strike of the campaign breaking a three-month scoring drought.
Asked post-match about transfer speculation, Destro was coy, telling Sky Sport: “I’m a striker, I want to play and I want to score goals. For now, I’m still a Roma player.”
However, Palermo remained a threat and when Dybala was sent down the left by Barreto, De Sanctis rushed out to block, suffering a knock in the ensuing clash with defender Mapou Mbiwa-Yanga.
Garcia sent on three substitutes in the space of five minutes in a bid to turn the tide.
Daniele Verde, 18, made his league debut replacing Juan Iturbe, while Totti, 38, came on for Adem Ljajic and Maicon replaced Leandro Paredes — but Palermo held on for a deserved share of the spoils.
Earlier on Saturday, strugglers Empoli dented Inter’s UEFA Champions League qualifying hopes after holding Roberto Mancini’s side to a scoreless draw.
Inter remained in ninth position, 17 points behind Juventus ahead of yesterday’s fixtures, while Empoli remained 15th, four points above the relegation zone.
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