Pressure is Building for Alessio Dionisi at Palermo as Catanzaro Come to Town

Catanzaro left it late. Very late.

The Giallorossi had come from a goal down at home to Brescia and were hammering on the away side’s door seeking a winner.

They’d already had a goal disallowed for offside, and time was fast running out when the clocked ticked into the 98th minute.

Following a corner that wasn’t properly dealt with by Brescia, the ball landed at the feet of Tommasso Cassandro just outside the box. As everyone waited for the inswinging corner, Cassandro smartly passed it to Stefano Scognamillo, who’d taken up a good position just inside the Rondinelle penalty box on the right-hand side.

Scognamillo, a centre-back by trade, shifted his body and produced a sumptuous right-footed cross into the middle of the box. It was met by the head of left-back Federico Bonini, who planted his header firmly beyond the reach of goalkeeper Luca Lezzerini.

There was one final scare for Catanzaro. From the kick off, Brescia broke up the other end and should’ve equalised, but Nicolas Galazzi blasted his shot over the bar after good work inside the area. 

Yet the southern side held on for another victory, their first for five games.

Fabio Caserta’s men have turned into draw specialists in Serie B this season. They’ve only lost twice in 16 games, which appears impressive, but when you notice they’ve won only three times and drawn 11, you realise the two defeats isn’t that spectacular. 

Yet considering how tight the Serie B play-off race is, Caserta’s troops still find themselves in the top half of the table with just three wins. The win over Brescia proved they can score goals that don’t come from the boot of striker Pietro Iemello, with the captain responsible for scoring nine goals this season, six more than next best, Simone Pontisso.

Only four points separate Catanzaro in ninth and Bari in fourth (which also shows how far ahead Spezia, Sassuolo and Pisa are ahead of the chasing pack). This weekend sees Catanzaro travel even further south, to Sicily, to face Palermo in what will be a hotly contested battle at the Stadio Renzo Barbera. 

Palermo have been one of the big underachievers in the early part of the season, with the Rosanero sitting a place above Catanzaro in the table. This will be a fight between eighth and ninth.

After the impressive win against high-flying Spezia, Palermo boss Alessio Dionisi was adamant a corner hadn’t been turned, despite handing the Ligurian side their first defeat of the season. This turned out to be correct, as the following week Palermo lost to league minnows Carrarese.

The pressure is on Dionisi. With Palermo having arguably one of the better teams in the division and owned by the City Group, objectives are high.

With Palermo meeting league leaders Sassuolo just before Christmas, a win against Catanzaro is pivotal in order to restore confidence ahead of their biggest game of the season. 

Defensively, Palermo have been one of the best records in the division, with only Sassuolo and Spezia conceding less, yet it’s their inability to score that’s hampering progress. In the top half of the table only Juve Stabia have scored less. 

Lose against Catanzaro and the pressure will ramp up on Dionisi, and a second sacking in 2024 isn’t out of the question for the 44-year-old.