SPAL beat Parma to keep survival hopes alive after suspension call

A relegation-threatened SPAL boosted their Serie A survival hopes after a 1-0 victory over Parma in a match that was delayed due to a suspension call by the Italian sports minister amid coronavirus fears on Saturday.

Andrea Petagna scored a penalty in 71st minute after the sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora’s call to suspend the league with the immediate effect.

The minister’s demand caused a panic with the players waiting in the tunnel for the kick-off at an empty Stadio Ennio Tardini were sent back to the dressing rooms as match officials decided the best course of action. The teams didn’t take the field after a delay of 75 minutes and the first-half was unsurprisingly insipid and lacking in incident.

Gervinho went closest for the hosts after the break when he clipped the top of the crossbar. Petagna secured the points from the spot not long after.

A VAR check ruled that Mattia Valoti had been pushed in the back and Petagna, a 24-year-old Italy international, scored the winner.

There was confusion over whether the rest of the days matches would be played after Spadafora said that it made “no sense” to play matches while people in Italy were being asked “to make enormous sacrifices to prevent the spread of the virus”.

Spadafora wrote his message after the president of Italian footballers’ association (AIC) Damiano Tommasi had pushed for the season to be suspended, and Italian media reported on a draft strike motion from the AIC that was not acted upon.

However, the day’s 1400 GMT matches did kick off and the huge title clash between Juventus and Inter Milan to take place as scheduled. Over 230 people have died from the COVID-19 in the last two weeks, with over 5,800 people diagnosed with the virus.

Meanwhile, relegation-battling Genoa moved out of the Serie A drop zone thanks to a surprise 2-1 win over AC Milan at an empty San Siro on Sunday. The visitors raced into a two-goal lead before halftime after Goran Pandev and Francesco Cassata both turned in crosses from close range.

Milan rallied after the break as Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled one back, but they could not find an equaliser in an eerie atmosphere at one of Italian football’s most iconic stadiums and fell to their first home defeat since Nov. 3.

Agencies