Parma-Verona 2-1
GOALS: 4′ pt Bernabè, 43′ pt Harroui (Rig.), 48′ st Pellegrino.
PARMA (3-5-2): Corvi 6; Delprato 6, Circati 5, Valenti 6 (1′ st Ondrejka 6); Britschgi 5.5, Bernabé 7, Keita 6.5 (17′ st Nicolussi Caviglia 6.5), Sorensen 6 (25′ st Oristanio 5.5), Valeri 6.5; Strefezza 6.5 (49′ st Ordonez sv), Pellegrino 6.5. On the bench: Rinaldi, Casentini, Estevez, Elphege, Cremaschi, Carboni, Drobnic, Mikolajewski. Coach: Cuesta 6.
HELLAS VERONA (3-5-2): Montipò 6.5; Bella-Kotchap 5.5, Nelsson 5.5, Edmundsson 6.5; Belghali 5.5 (20′ pt Akpa Akpro 6), Niasse 5.5 (34′ st Serdar sv), Al-Musrati 5.5, Harroui 6.5 (34′ st Slotsager sv), Bradaric 5.5; Bowie 6.5 (17′ st Sarr 5.5), Orban 4. On the bench: Sammarco 6. Coach: Perilli, Toniolo, Tomich, Oyegoke, Frese, Cham, Mosquera.
REFEREE: Pairetto di Nichelino 5.
NOTES: clear afternoon, terrain in good condition. Booked: Circati, Valenti, Akpa Akpro. Expelled: direct red card for Orban in the 11th minute for protests. Corners: 12-1. Recovery time: 3’+1, 5’+2.
Despite having numerical superiority for almost the entire match, Cuesta’s Parma defeated Hellas Verona only in the 93rd minute. At the Tardini, the final 2-1 launched the Ducali towards salvation and made the Venetians sink further and further towards relegation. After the goals in the first half by Bernabè and Harroui (on a penalty), in full injury time Pellegrino took care of making the home crowd explode with joy. From the eleventh minute, the guests played with ten men, following Orban’s severe sending off. Parma’s afternoon started off on the right foot straight away. In fact, four minutes pass and the home team are already in the lead: from a recovery by Keita, the ball reaches Bernabé who controls it, lifts it and volleys it from the edge, finding the bottom corner and beating Montipò for 1-0. For Verona things get further complicated in the 11th minute, when Pairetto draws a red card for Orban. The Nigerian striker goes into a rage over an unwhistled foul in midfield and his gesture of annoyance is blatant: it is not possible to know what Orban shouted, but Nichelino’s whistle did not hesitate in his decision. In the first half Montipò’s saves kept the guests afloat. At the end of the half, however, Circati’s naivety brought the match back to a draw. The Italian-Australian, in fact, in the 41st minute knocks out Bowie in the area, awarding a penalty to Verona, who until then had been totally harmless in the offensive zone. From the spot Harroui displaces Corvi and scores the 1-1.
Numerical superiority inevitably forces Parma to take the reins of operations. The Ducali’s attacks prove to be quite readable against a Verona that defends with a low block: many crosses rain down in the penalty area, but Pellegrino is well marked by the opposing defenders. In the 71st minute it was Strefezza who came close to overtaking, inventing a right-footed shot which however crashed onto the crossbar. Parma tries everything and in the final siege, in full recovery, Pellegrino emerges, impalpable until that moment. In the 93rd minute the Argentine striker soars into the area and heads Nicolussi Caviglia’s cross into the net. The final 2-1 therefore rewards Parma who makes a decisive sprint into the safety zone. Cuesta’s team rises to twelfth place, with 29 points. However, a heroic performance is not enough for Verona: Sammarco’s boys remain second to last.
Cremonese-Genoa 0-0
CREMONESE (3-5-2): Audero 7; Terracciano 6, Baschirotto 6.5, Luperto 6; Zerbin 6 (43’st Floriani Mussolini sv), Thorsby 6.5, Pajero 5.5 (13’st Grassi 6.5), Maleh 5.5, Pezzella 5.5 (27’st Barbieri 6); Djuric 6.5 (27’st Sanabria 6), Vardy 5 (13’st Bonazzoli 6.5). On the bench: Silvestri, Nava, Moumbagna, Bianchetti, Pavesi, Vandeputte, Folino. Coach: Nicola 6.
GENOA (3-4-2-1): Bijlow 6; Marcandalli 6, Ostigard 6.5, Vasquez 6.5; Norton-Cuffy 6.5 (27’st Martin 5.5), Malinovskyi 6, Frendrup 6 (44’st Amorim sv), Ellertsson 6; Messias 6.5 (27’st Baldanzi 6), Vitinha 6 (15’st Ekuban 5.5); Colombo 5.5 (27’st Ekhator 6). On the bench: Leali, Sommariva, Zatterstrom, Onana, Sabelli, Otoa, Cornet, Masini. Coach: De Rossi 6.
REFEREE: Sozza di Seregno 6.
NOTES: clear day, pitch in excellent condition. Booked: Pezzella, Terracciano. Corners: 11-6 for Genoa. Recovery: 2’pt, 4’st.
The match between Cremonese and Genoa at the “Zini” ends with a draw that moves both teams’ rankings, but which probably doesn’t satisfy anyone. No goals, a few opportunities on both sides to try and bring home the three points, but in the end it’s 0-0. The fast is extended for Nicola’s team, who have not won for eleven games in Serie A. De Rossi’s Genoa, on the other hand, returns to move up the table after two consecutive defeats. The first ring, after five revolutions of the clock, comes from the usual Vardy, who however fails to worry Bijlow with a too light heel strike. Colleague Audero’s interventions were more demanding, first on Vasquez and then on Vitinha in a lively first quarter of an hour of the match. De Rossi’s team gains more and more space and at the stroke of half an hour of play the grey-red goalkeeper is once again forced to dirty his gloves on the diagonal of Norton-Cuffy to keep the match in balance. The home team struggled to play the ball and didn’t even find space on the counterattack. Genoa ended the first half with 83% possession, but at half-time the score was still at 0-0.
As happened at the dawn of the first 45′, Mister Nicola’s men made the first attempt towards the goal with a header from Thorsby which caused no problems for the opposing goalkeeper. Messias also becomes dangerous with a shot just wide in the 53rd minute, while Djuric a few moments later fails to be precise with his specialty, the header. However, the expert center forward who arrived during the winter transfer market from Parma is certainly the most incisive of the attacking duo of the team coached by Nicola. The coach, in fact, tries to change the cards on the table a little by inserting Bonazzoli in place of a dull Vardy. Grassi also enters the field for Pajero and the changes seem to have the desired effect, with the Cremonese starting to show up more consistently in the Genoa area. In the whirlwind of changes, the returning Baldanzi also makes his debut in the rossoblù shirt, but Cremonese had the sensational opportunity during the last minute of injury time and it fell on the foot of Bonazzoli who hit the top corner. The contest therefore ends with a draw which brings both teams to 24 points, still +3 on the Lecce-Fiorentina duo at 21, but with the Salento team still having to take the field tomorrow against Cagliari. In the next round for Cremonese a difficult trip to the Olimpico against Roma, while Genoa awaits Torino at Marassi.