The Malta Independent on Sunday
Gervinho thriving at Parma with stunning goal vs Cagliari
Gervinho is continuing to flourish on his return to Italian football, scoring a stunning individual goal to help Parma beat Cagliari 2-0 in Serie A yesterday.
Gervinho scored the second goal of the game two minutes after the break. The 31-year-old Ivory Coast international sprinted from deep inside his own half and beat three defenders before firing in off the near post.
He was embraced by all his teammates and given a standing ovation by fans at the Stadio Tardini.
It was Gervinho’s second goal since the former Arsenal and Roma winger returned to Serie A after 2 1/2 years in China.
Gervinho had attempted a similar move in the first half but fired wide.
Roberto Inglese scored Parma’s opener in the 20th minute after the ball ricocheted off the goalkeeper’s chest and Inglese’s face.
It was Parma’s second straight win after its surprise victory at Inter Milan last week.
FAMILY AFFAIR
Federico Chiesa scored Fiorentina’s third goal and im- mediately went over to embrace his brother Lorenzo, who was on the sidelines as a ball boy. They were watched by father Enrico, himself a former Fiorentina and Italy forward.
Fiorentina won 3-0 over Spal, which had conceded only one goal in its four previous matches.
Marko Pjaca and Nikola Milenkovic scored the first two in the first half.
Chiesa started and finished the move which led to Fiorentina’s third, early in the second half. He won the ball in midfield and laid it off before running into the area to drill into the bottom left corner.
Spal’s night almost went from bad to worse as midfielder Jasmin Kurtic was shown a red card for a tackle on German Pezzella, but the referee amended it to a yellow after consultation with the video assistant referee.
THREE GOALS DISALLOWED BY VAR
Inter left it late to beat Sampdoria 1-0 thanks to a 93rd minute goal from Brozovic.
Sampdoria had a good start with Quagliarella and Defrel threatening the Inter post.
The nerazzurri also went close with a Vecino header going over the bar.
There was controversy right on the stroke of half-time and in the second half as three goals - two for Inter and one for Sampdoria – were annulled by the VAR officials.
Radja Nainggolan hit it on the volley into the bottom corner with a fantastic finish. However, it was disallowed for Icardi’s offside position.
In the second half, Asamoah also had his goal for Inter disallowed, a few moments before Sampdoria also scored through Defrel, but this was also disallowed for an offside position of the scorer.
Earlier, Inter had gone close through efforts from Candreeva, who also hit the post, and Icardi.