Palermo v Siena: Did I Mention That Siena Don’t Suck?

By: Martha | January 20th, 2008

He’s a little bit Italian. Even if you’re a supporter of whoever they’re playing, Siena are really hard not to like right now. Despite having just barely climbed out of the drop zone (Huzzah!), they’re playing with a lot of self-belief and come out looking to win, no matter who they’re playing or whether they’re home or away. As Ursus mentioned in the comment last week, they had a few good weeks early in the season before flagging, but in the last five matches, they’ve taking points off Palermo (three), Genoa (three) and Napoli (one) and made life hard on Inter before succumbing 3-2 — there just might be a real reason to hope this time.

And today’s match was an advertisement for what a little self-belief can do for a bottom side. Siena went down almost immediately to an unstoppable Amauri header, but they equalized through Tomas Locatelli less than 60 second later. There was no sitting around bemoaning the questionable free kick that lead to the Palermo goal, or a feeling of “here we go again” — they just got on with it, which is something from which a whole lot of teams in closer to the top of the table could learn.

Palermo were all over Siena in the wake of the goal, but the reflexes of Alex Manninger in goal and the willingness of everyone in the Siena defense to hurl themselves in front of the ball kept it out somehow. And, barely five minutes later, Siena somehow went in front, thanks to the combined efforts of Massimo Maccarone and Palermo’s increasingly dodgy defense. No one had a chance to celebrate or even breathe, though, because the chaos continued down at the other end, and the Rosanero were awarded a penalty very reminiscent of the one Julio Cruz won against Siena last week, except without the high boot — there was a collision in the box, and the referee pointed to the spot. Fabrizio Miccoli, who had a hand in virtually everything Palermo did in the first half, sent Manninger the wrong way but put the shot off the bar. (15 minutes in, there were already three goals and a missed PK. Who says Serie A is boring?)

Things calmed down marginally after that, but there continued to be chances for both teams, with Manninger making one spectacular save and flying off his line to deal with crosses on several occasions. At the other end, (barely) 18-year-old Fernando Forestieri, making his first Serie A start, got to a cross ahead of Andrea Barzagli (Who has been average at best in every Palermo match I’ve seen this season, save the Napoli one — what is going on with him?) but somehow put his volley over from about eight yards out. The half ended 2-1 to Siena and, despite Palermo having the bulk of the possession, the lead was in no way undeserved.

Doubtless fearing for his job (again), Francesco Guidolin made two changes at half, including throwing on young Edison Cavani for Fabio Simplicio — who had missed an absolute sitter in injury time — and the second half was spent almost entirely in the Siena end. The visitors gave away a seemingly endless array of free kicks, but they were resilient in the box and, when called upon, Manninger was in the form that kept Siena up last season. (How on earth he lost his place under Andrea Mandorlini, I will never know.) Palermo’s frustration was evident on every face on the pitch — especially after a spectacular bicycle kick by Amauri hit the bar — and the more stupid fouls they committed, the more settled Siena seemed to be.

That calm was wasted, though, when Maccarone handled the ball on Palermo’s millionth free kick of the half, and the referee had no choice but to award Palermo a penalty. Miccoli stepped up again and, after a lot of dithering, pushed the ball past Manninger, and the home side were level in the 76th minute. Again, though, there was no let-up from Siena, and they went the other way and were back ahead within two minutes, thanks to what was surely the best goal Simone Loria has scored in his entire life. The giant central defender had gone forward for a set play and was still hanging around the box when a cross drifted in; he went up and hit it perfectly, with just enough arch to sneak over Alberto Fontana’s desperate leap and settle into the back of the net. Absolutely gorgeous, and touched by more than a little luck.

After that, though there were still 10 minutes left, Palermo seems to fall apart. Their frustration took over, and though they kept up the pressure, there were no coherency to their attack and they continued to commit careless fouls, giving away possession repeatedly. And, to make matters worse, they almost went down 4-2 thanks to a wonderful individual effort by Forestieri, who left Barzagli for dead only to have his shot tipped over by Fontana. The match ended 3-2, lifting Siena out of the drop zone and leaving a lot of very long faces on those wearing pink — Zampa ain’t gonna like this.