Palermo beats Roma 3-2 with 2 late goals

Posted Sunday, April 17, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

MILAN (AP)—Striker Abel Hernandez scored twice in the last six minutes to give Palermo a 3-2 win at Roma in the Serie A on Saturday.

Roma took the lead through a penalty kick from Francesco Totti, and Mauricio Pinilla equalized from the spot before the interval.

Jeremy Menez and Mirko Vucinic wasted chances that would have wrapped the game up for Roma.

After Hernandez’s brace, Vucinic hit his ninth goal of the season before Palermo came close to adding a fourth goal through a fierce shot from Javier Pastore.

The result came a day after Roma was bought for $100 million by American investors led by Boston executive Thomas DiBenedetto.

“We now have to wait for tomorrow’s results to see if we can make fourth place,” Roma coach Vincenzo Montella said.

“The current situation with the club’s future in the balance isn’t the easiest to work in, but I don’t think the question of the future of the club affected how we played.”

Roma’s Menez was denied on two early occasions by Palermo goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu.

The first came after Sirigu spilled John Arne Riise’s shot into his path, but the Frenchman was slow to react and the Palermo defense got back to clear. The second came when Menez was left unmarked to shoot, but Sirigu blocked his shot at the near post.

Totti opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 20th after Armin Bacinovic held back Menez, but by halftime the sides were level after Pinilla replied with a penalty of his own after Nicolas Burdisso pulled him back in the box.

After the break Roma was quickly into its stride and Daniele De Rossi and Menez went close with chances.

Vucinic came off the bench to improve Roma’s attack, but he subsequently missed the best chance of the game.

Rodrigo Taddei released Menez down the right, he squared the ball across the box to Vucinic, but with an open goal he blazed over the bar.

Palermo made Roma pay by scoring from a similar chance. Pastore released Pinilla, and he squared to Hernandez, who had no problem finding the empty net.

The pair linked again for Hernandez’s second before Marco Borriello backheeled the ball to Vucinic for Roma’s second.

“This is a young team and needs time to develop,” Palermo coach Delio Rossi said. “But we are a good team, even though we will have our ups and downs.”