Palermo 0 : 7 Udinese - Duo go goal crazy as Udinese romp

Posted Sunday, February 27, 2011 by PA

Alexis Sanchez and Antonio Di Natale tore Palermo apart to lift Udinese up to fifth in Serie A thanks to a 7-0 rout in Sicily.

Sanchez netted four on his return from a one-match ban and Di Natale grabbed a hat-trick as the Udinese attack ripped the Palermo defence to shreds and pushed their coach Delio Rossi closer to the door.

Sanchez completed his hat-trick within 42 minutes with Di Natale also on target twice in a first half in which Armin Bacinovic was sent off.

Palermo restricted Udinese to only two goals in the second half, but they were reduced to nine men when Matteo Darmian was dismissed for giving away a penalty, which was converted by Di Natale to complete the scoring in the 61st minute.

Di Natale started the rout in the ninth minute with a header from close range in the ninth minute.

Sanchez was left all alone by an abysmal Palermo defence to add the second in the 18th minute and, 10 minutes later, he skipped past Salvatore Sirigu after being given carte blanche to run at the Palermo defence to add the third.

Bacinovic was sent off five minutes before the break as he picked up a second yellow card.

And Di Natale rubbed salt into their gaping wounds in the 41st minute when he pounced on a loose ball to make it four after Kwadwo Asamoah's powerful shot from 25 yards was fumbled by Sirigu.

Less than 60 seconds later, Sanchez cut in from the right and completed his hat-trick with a placed shot from eight yards out.

The goalscoring continued three minutes into the second half with Sanchez scoring at the second attempt after being set up by Di Natale, threading the ball in from a tight angle.

When Darmian fouled Armero inside the penalty area on the hour mark, and a penalty was rewarded, it looked like there was going to be no let-up for the home side.

Darmian was sent off and Di Natale stroked in the spot-kick, but the Friulian side seemed to show a bit of mercy with no further goals in the final half an hour.

The damage had been done already and it seems irreparable for Rossi, who is unlikely to keep hold of his job after this embarrassing defeat which leaves Palermo now struggling to qualify for Europe next season.