Palermo 2 : 1 Atalanta - Palermo victory extends impressive streak

Palermo continued their fine fun of Serie A form with a narrow 2-1 victory over 10-man Atalanta at La Favorita.

The visitors got off to a bad start when they had goalkeeper Andrea Consigli sent off in the 27th minute for a foul on Fabrizio Miccoli, who picked himself up to convert the resulting penalty.

Igor Budan doubled the hosts' advantage four minutes into the second half and, although Maximiliano Moralez pulled a goal back seven minutes later, the Sicilian outfit held on to make it 10 points from the last 12 on offer.

Palermo went close to opening the scoring in the eighth minute, when Massimo Donati's header skimmed the post from Miccoli's corner.

Miccoli was again the provider 10 minutes later for Nicolas Bertolo, who fired wide from inside the penalty area.

Donati sent another header over the bar with Consigli well beaten as the home team continued to push for the opener, and it duly arrived before the half-hour mark.

Consigli's professional foul on Miccoli inside the Atalanta box earned the goalkeeper a straight red card, with the former Italy striker slotting the spot-kick coolly past his replacement Giorgio Frezzolini and into the bottom-left corner.

Frezzolini did well to keep his side only one goal down four minutes before the break, tipping another Miccoli drive over the bar.

Palermo keeper Emiliano Viviano was made to work for the first time a minute later, comfortably dealing with a 30-yard shot from Carlos Carmona.

Miccoli had another sight of goal just before the interval but was narrowly off target with a fierce long-range drive.

The hosts did not have to wait too much longer for the second goal, though, and again Miccoli was involved. His close-range header from Edgar Barreto's cross in the 49th minute was saved by Frezzolini, who then also kept out Budan's first follow-up effort but he was unable to prevent the Croatian's second attempt finding its target.

Palermo should have extended their lead five minutes later when Matias Silvestre's shot came back off the post and fell to Eran Zahavi but, with the goal at his mercy, he missed the target.

The Bergamaschi halved the deficit in the 56th minute, Moralez prodding home from Manolo Gabbiadini's left-wing cross, but from then on it the Rosanero who looked the more likely to add to their tally.

Frezzolini tipped a Bertolo blast over the bar just after the hour, with Atalanta coach Stefano Colantuono's frustration boiling over soon after. He was sent to the stands after protesting too vociferously after a decision went against his team.

Colantuono's side did have half a chance to equalise 21 minutes from time, only for Viviano to get down well to keep out Moralez's 25-yard effort.

It could have got worse for the visitors in stoppage time when substitute Josip Ilicic and Donati both found themselves with shooting opportunities. Both fired wide, but Palermo already had the points in the bag.