Cesena 2 - 2 Palermo - Seahorses stay afloat
Posted Sunday, April 22, 2012 by PA
Cesena staved off relegation for a few days at least by drawing 2-2 at home to Palermo.
The Serie A basement boys turned the game around in the space of three minutes just before the half-hour mark as goals from Mario Santana and Vincenzo Rennella put them 2-1 in front.
But Matias Silvestre equalised on the stroke of half-time to earn a point for Palermo, who had gone in front through Nicolas Bertolo.
The draw left Cesena 14 points from safety with five games to go.
The visitors were out of the blocks quickly and home goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli had to be alert to save shots from outside the area from Massimo Donati and Francesco Della Rocca.
Fabrizio Miccoli then fired wide of the right post as Palermo continued to threaten.
Cesena also looked to try their luck from long range, but Adrian Mutu and Gianluca Comotto were both off target.
Palermo took the lead in the 20th minute with Bertolo firing into the top corner from the centre of the area from Ezequiel Munoz's cross.
Miccoli almost doubled the lead but his low 30-yard effort was saved by Antonioli.
Instead Cesena levelled in the 26th minute as Santana found the bottom right corner from Luca Ceccarelli's cross.
And two minutes later they were in front, Rennella firing home following a corner.
The hosts now had their tails up and Mutu headed narrowly wide as they looked for a third.
But they were pegged back in first-half stoppage time as Silvestre headed home a Bertolo corner.
Both teams looked for a third goal after the break, with the hosts desperate for a winner to boost their faint survival hopes.
Comotto headed well wide from a Ceccarelli corner in the 71st minute.
But from then it was all Palermo as the hosts were left hanging on.
Franco Vazquez shot over and Miccoli wide before Igor Budan fired wide from a tight angle as time ran out.
Bertolo had the visitors' last effort in injury time, but sent it over as Cesena hung on for a point and lived to fight another day.
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