Parma close in on Europa berth with victory over Lecce

Milan: Parma closed in on an Europa League berth with a 2-0 win over Lecce that lifted the former UEFA Cup winners to seventh in Serie A on Monday.

Defender Simone Iacoponi nodded in a Hernani corner just before the hour mark with Andreas Cornelius adding a second just after coming off the bench on 72 minutes.

Gervinho was denied a third late by Brazilian keeper Gabriel following an impressive run through the Lecce defence.

Parma overtake Torino and are now just one point behind sixth-placed Cagliari, who occupy the final Europa League spot.

AC Milan and Napoli are four points behind the side from Emilia-Romagna in 10th and 11th position respectively.

“We had to redeem ourselves after the defeat against Atalanta,” said Iacoponi after his side lost 5-0 to Atalanta last time out.

During the club’s golden era in the 1990s they won the UEFA Cup twice, the European Super Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

But they have not competed in European competition since 2007. They qualified for the 2014-15 Europa League, but were denied a UEFA licence because of a late tax payment of 300,000 euros ($334,000). The club were declared bankrupt and relegated to Serie D in 2015, returning to the top flight with three straight promotions. They finished 14th last season.

Lecce, from the heel of Italy, fell to their the fourth consecutive defeat and are just one point off the relegation zone.

Agence France-Presse


Italian League result on Monday:
Parma 2 (Iacoponi 57, Cornelius 72) Lecce 0