Hellas Verona are loving being back in Serie A. This latest win is their fourth consecutive victory at home and keeps them in the top five. Parma's four game unbeaten streak was ended, leaving Roberto Donadoni still searching for a first away win of the season.
Hellas Verona vs Parma, final score 3-2: Parma pay the penalty
Hellas Verona came from behind and netted two penalties to defeat Parma 3-2 at the Stadio Bentegodi.
Fabrizio Cacciatore had put the home side ahead early on, before Marco Parolo came back to haunt the club he served during the 2008-09 season. The midfielder levelled, then set up Antonio Cassano to put the Ducali ahead. Two second half penalties by Jorginho gave the Gialloblu victory.
It was an emotional day in Verona, after the death of vice-president Giovanni Martinelli on Tuesday. The home side wore black armbands and there was a minute’s applause before the start of the game.
Injured duo Daniele Ragatzu and Vangelis Moras missed out for the home side, while Pavol Bajza took the gloves for Parma in place of the suspended Antonio Mirante. Amauri made a welcome return from his ban, but Gabriel Paletta, Daniele Galloppa and Stefano Okaka were out injured.
It took just nine minutes for the hosts to open the scoring from a corner. Felipe lost his marker, allowing Cacciatore to run in and volley the ball into the net. It was the right back’s third strike of the season.
Parma should have equalised five minutes later. Rafael flapped at a cross and Afriyie Acquah rushed his shot, steering into the side netting. The chances kept on coming for both sides. Bajza prevented Luca Toni from lofting the ball over him, while Amauri wasted a free header for the visitors.
Cassano unlocked the Hellas defence for Parolo to shoot against the post. Less than a minute later, the midfielder made up for it with a cracking equaliser. Alejandro Gonzalez was concerned about a foul, leaving Parolo to pick up a loose ball and drill a shot into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Felipe escaped a red card midway through the first half when he tugged back Toni. Romulo took the resulting free kick, and his effort deflected into Cacciatore’s path. The defender wasted his effort, firing straight at Bajza.
Parma did hit the front on 25 minutes. Parolo chipped the ball into the box, giving Cassano time to take it down and smash it past Rafael. It was almost three after half an hour. Alessandro Lucarelli saw his header rebound off the underside of the bar. Rafael quickly regained his bearings to palm Felipe's follow-up off the line.
Light drizzle greeted the two teams at the start of the second half. Lucarelli was fortunate that his tug on Toni in the box went unnoticed by the referee two minutes after the restart. Toni did head the ball into the net on 49 minutes, but the effort was chalked off for an infringement on Felipe by the veteran striker. Juanito Gomez also saw an effort disallowed, after he bundled into Bajza en route to putting the ball in the net.
Verona were given a penalty on the hour after Mattia Cassani tripped Toni. Jorginho stepped up and put his penalty beyond Bajza, who despite getting a touch on it, couldn't keep the ball out.
Parma tried to carve out some chances, but couldn’t find a way past Rafael. After keeping out Parolo’s angled drive, the shotstopper beat away Acquah’s vicious effort from distance.
The rain was unrelenting as both teams went for the jugular in the final ten minutes. Parolo was inches away from sliding onto Cassano’s pass, while Toni didn’t get enough on a long ball to trouble Bajza. Just when it looked like a draw was on the cards, a moment of genius from Jorginho changed all that. The Brazilian latched onto a Cacciatore pass and was brought down by Marco Marchionni as he spun around to beat his marker. The youngster converted his second spot kick of the afternoon, this time sending Bajza the wrong way.
Cassano tried in vain to find an equaliser. After being shut out by some tough Rafael Marques defending, FantAntonio saw a dangerous cross into the box cleared by Bosko Jankovic, as Hellas held out for the win.
Hellas Verona: Rafael, Gonzalez, Marques, Cacciatore, Agostini, Romulo, (Jankovic 84) Hallfredsson, (Donati 65) Jorginho, Toni, Iturbe, Gomez (Martinho 75)
Parma: Bajza, Cassani, Lucarelli, Felipe, Parolo, Gobbi, (Sansone 89) Acquah, Marchionni, Rosi, (Biabiany 74) Amauri, (Palladino 68) Cassano,
Goals: Cacciatore 9 (V) Parolo 19 (P) Cassano 25 (P) Jorginho pens 61, 88 (V)
See More:
