Sunday 10th March 2002

Verona took the points in a game of two penalties. Parma's Marco Di Vaio missed his, hitting it straight at Fabrizio Ferron, Adrian Mutu calmly slotted his effort into the back of the net to give Verona a late winner.

Paolo Cannavaro sent Verona fans into panic when he handled the ball inside his own box in just the 13th minute of the game and his side appeared to be heading for their fourth consecutive defeat . But Di Vaio's miss kept Parma on the back foot and their cautious approach backfired on them when their hosts won a spot-kick in the 84th minute. Mutu's conversion put Parma right back in relegation trouble.

In fact the game revolved around the attacking qualities of Di Vaio and Mutu. Verona tried to get down the flanks with Oddo on the right wing and Melis on the left, though neither player had much luck in getting past the Parma defence.

Parma tried a more direct route, with Hakan Sukur dropping back to play a little too deep, leaving Marko Di Vaio isolated at times.

Throughout the first half Mutu worked hard at creating space and just before the interval Taffarel made a good save from Mario Frick but little else happend.

Verona pushed further forward in the second period but they still couldn't find a way through. Di Vaio threatened on two occassion but Ferron was equal to his efforts. then came the decisive penalty, which left Parma in the relegation zone, though they do still have a game in hand.