THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILAN, Italy — Palermo got back to winning ways Thursday with a comfortable 2-0 victory over struggling Lecce in Serie A.
Mauricio Pinilla put the home side ahead with a penalty in the 27th minute after Nenad Tomovic brought down Abel Hernandez in the area.
Lecce had several chances to level, notably at the beginning of the second half when Juan Cuadrado found himself with only the goalkeeper to beat.
It was left to rue its profligacy when Hernandez added Palermo’s second to seal victory with 14 minutes left to play.
Palermo, which had lost its previous two matches, moves up to sixth in the standings, three points behind leader Juventus, while Lecce remains second from bottom.
Lecce had the first real chance of the game in the 14th minute when a shot from Ignacio Piatti flew narrowly over the bar from outside the area.
That seemed to spark Palermo into life and it dominated the rest of the half. The home side almost went in front when Federico Balzaretti’s effort was cleared by Lecce defender Tomovic, just in front of the line, while goalkeeper Massimiliano Benassi pulled off a stunning save to clear Pinilla’s point-blank header.
However, Pinilla made no mistake with his penalty and the Chile international could have doubled Palermo’s lead shortly before halftime, but could only manage a weak shot after being picked out by Giulio Migliaccio.
Hernandez sealed the points after playing a one-two with Eran Zahavi before managing to squeeze a shot through two Lecce defenders and past Benassi.