Palermo Steal It 3-2 at Arezzo: Cianci and Tavernelli Turn the Game on Its Head
SportSignals Match Desk · Football analysis desk ·
Arezzo versus Palermo. Sunday afternoon in Serie B. Five goals, bookings in the dugout, and a late Palermo winner that will sting Arezzo for a long time. The final score was 2-3 to Palermo. That scoreline tells you something went wrong for the home side. The numbers tell you exactly what.
How the Goals Went In
Palermo struck first. Dennis Johnsen finished with his right foot in the 21st minute, assisted by Hernani, and the visitors had their noses in front early. That should have settled Palermo down. It did not work out that way.
Arezzo's manager Cristian Bucchi picked up a booking in the 30th minute for an argument on the touchline. That tells you plenty about how feisty this match got. Whatever was said on that bench, Arezzo's players responded on the pitch. Filippo Ranocchia pulled the home side level in the 55th minute, right foot again, with Johnsen picking up the assist. Palermo came into this match and scored first. Arezzo came back. That is the basics done right by the home side. What came next is the problem.
Gabriel Strefezza was booked for a foul just before half-time and then replaced by Emmanuel Gyasi at the hour mark. Straight after that substitution, Palermo's Pietro Cianci made it 2-1 with a header, assisted by Camillo Tavernelli, on 60 minutes. Arezzo had just drawn level and the response was to concede immediately. That is not good enough. That is a mental fragility you cannot explain away with tactics.
Tavernelli then turned provider into scorer. He put Palermo 3-1 up on 74 minutes with a right-foot finish, this time assisted by Cianci. The roles swapped. The damage was done. Tommaso Augello gave Arezzo a consolation with a left-foot finish deep into stoppage time, in the 90th minute, but by then it meant nothing. Palermo won 3-2. End of.
Arezzo Had the Ball. Palermo Won the Duels.
The thing is, Arezzo were the better team on the ball for most of this match. They had 57 per cent possession. They completed 374 passes to Palermo's 277. They had 17 total shots to Palermo's 15. They hit the woodwork once. They missed three big chances. Three. That is not bad luck. That is poor execution when it matters most.
Palermo won 49 duels to Arezzo's 36. They made 13 interceptions to Arezzo's six. Listen, when the away side is winning that many physical battles despite having less of the ball, you are looking at a team that competed harder. Arezzo had the territory. Palermo had the desire. In a results business, desire wins.
Palermo also put in 26 crosses, twice as many as Arezzo's 13. They were direct. They were aggressive. Their dribble success rate was 50 per cent compared to Arezzo's 22 per cent. When Palermo got at their man, they beat him. Arezzo did not. That is accountability on the individual level and no amount of possession stats changes it.
The Bucchi Problem
Arezzo's manager getting booked for an argument in the 30th minute is not a good look. You can read into that what you want. What I see is a man reacting to a situation rather than controlling it. On the pitch, the substitutions came thick and fast once the third Palermo goal went in. By the 82nd minute, Arezzo had made all five changes. Johnsen, Hernani, Strefezza, Pierozzi and Joel Pohjanpalo all came off at various points. That is a lot of movement for a team chasing a game they should never have let slip.
Palermo managed their substitutions more calmly. They brought on Alberto Cerri and Eklu Shaka Mawuli at 76 minutes to protect the lead. Nahuel Estévez came on for Arezzo at 66 minutes and was booked for a foul three minutes later. A player comes off the bench, gets himself into the referee's book almost immediately, and contributes nothing to turning the result around. That is the wrong attitude from someone trying to make an impact.
Palermo's Form Said This Was Possible
In their last five completed Serie B matches before this one, Palermo won three and lost two. Their most recent result before travelling to Arezzo was a 1-0 win over Juve Stabia. They kept two clean sheets in that five-match window and conceded seven goals across it. A team with that kind of inconsistency at the back should have been punished more ruthlessly by a home side with Arezzo's ball retention.
Across a ten-match sample, Palermo had six wins, two draws and two losses. They were winning more than they were losing. That is form. Arezzo had played one Serie B match before this one, a 2-1 win over Avellino. One match of form to Palermo's ten. The experience gap in terms of recent competitive football was obvious. Arezzo looked like a team still finding their rhythm. Palermo looked like a team who knew exactly what they needed to do when the game got tight.
The Signal That Won
The Verdict
Palermo go away from Arezzo with three points they earned through work rate and clinical finishing when it counted. Cianci and Tavernelli were the two who did the damage and the combination play between them for both goals was sharp. Credit where it is due.
Arezzo had enough chances to win this comfortably. They had more possession, more shots, more big chances created. They wasted three big chances. They conceded immediately after drawing level. They let the game slip through their own hands. That is standards. Specifically, a lack of them at the critical moments. Palermo competed. Arezzo did not compete when it mattered. The scoreboard is the only thing that counts and it read 2-3. Unacceptable for Arezzo. Well earned for Palermo.