Palermo 1 : 3 Parma - Relegated Palermo sign off with loss

Palermo suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Parma in their final outing in Italy's top flight ahead of their relegation to Serie B.

Massimo Gobbi, Jaime Valdes and Ishak Belfodil piled the misery on the Sicilians at the end of a season to forget.

Fabrizio Miccoli netted a consolation in what was probably his last appearance for the Rosaneri.

The result left Palermo six points adrift of Genoa in the relegation zone while Parma finished in the top half of the table.

Miccoli almost gave Palermo the lead early on when he juggled the ball inside the penalty area but dragged his shot wide.

Gobbi put Parma ahead with a moment of real class in the 38th minute, firing home an unstoppable volley from outside the penalty area from Valdes' free-kick.

It was a goal which even drew applause from some of the home fans in the Stadio Renzo Barbera, but there was better to come just a few minutes later.

Valdes this time decided to go it alone and unleashed an unstoppable effort into the top right-hand corner to double Parma's lead.

A counter-attack in the last minute of the first half finished Palermo off, Belfodil taking the ball to the edge of the area and firing past Francesco Benussi as the home defence stood off.

Palermo responded well and Miccoli stepped up his search for some personal glory by hitting the post.

He got the goal he was looking for in characteristic style, drilling home an unstoppable free-kick in the 76th minute.

However, he could find neither the energy nor the desire to celebrate as Palermo dropped out of the top flight with a whimper.