Serie A | Lecce 1-2 Parma: Victory thrown away after costly red cards

Lecce threw away the points after a costly Lameck Banda red card and a moment of madness from Kialonda Gaspar in injury time, having led Parma 1-0 for over an hour in Serie A on Sunday afternoon. Goals from Nikola Stulic, a Tiago Gabriel own goal and a strike from Mateo Pellegrino handed the visitors an eventual 2-1 victory. 

There was just one point and one position separating the two sides in the Serie A table ahead of kick-off. Lecce handed the attacking responsibilities over to Nikola Stulic after two consecutive Francesco Camarda starts over the last week, while Parma stuck with leading goalscorer Mateo Pellegrino at centre-forward. 

It didn’t take long at all for today’s match to spring into life. Lameck Banda played a hopeful ball into the area off the left flank and found Stulic, who did brilliantly to spin his opponent and dispatch past Edoardo Corvi after just 51 seconds. 

Youssef Maleh came within inches of doubling the hosts’ advantage when he struck the post with an outswinging effort from the edge of the area. 

The game was turned on its head, though, when Banda attempted to press but ended up sliding in recklessly on Enrico Delprato. He was initially shown a yellow card, which was later upgraded to a straight red after a VAR review. 

Banda was distraught at the decision, and was consoled by Kialonda Gaspar and Wladimiro Falcone as he made his way off the pitch in tears. 

Parma capitalised on their numerical advantage a few minutes later. Adrian Bernabe’s cross in from the right half-space grazed the top of Tiago Gabriel’s head, which was enough to fool Falcone and go down as an own-goal. 

Bernabe was involved again as Parma stole the lead in the 72nd minute. It was his corner that was met by the head of leading goalscorer Pellegrino, who powered in his effort at the near post for 2-1.

To make matters worse for Lecce, Gaspar was given his marching orders in injury time. He was caught in a battle with Pellegrino on the halfway line and, right in front of the referee, kicked out at the Argentine who was still in control of the ball on the floor. 

Sunday’s result sends Parma up to 14th place in the Serie A table, while Lecce remain in 16th, just four points above the relegation zone and now with two suspensions to deal with heading into Wednesday evening’s clash with league leaders Inter.

Stulic 1′, T.Gabriel OG 64′, Pellegrino 72′.