A second-half strike from Mattia Destro rescued a point for Roma in their Seria A clash at Palermo, but a draw means they missed the chance to move level on points with league leaders Juventus.
The home side took a surprise lead with just two minutes played as Paulo Dybala combined with strike partner Franco Vazquez inside the box and tucked an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner.
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Palermo caused Roma all kinds of problems in the opening stages, coming close to adding a second through Michel Morganella moments later when his long-range effort narrowly missed the target.
Rudi Garcia's high-flyers were largely restricted to efforts from range in the first period, but one of them almost came off in the 35th minute as Leandro Paredes's strike from outside the box whizzed past the upright.
However, it was Palermo who ended the half the brightest, almost heading into the break two goals to the good as Edgar Barreto's header six minutes before half time needed a good save from Morgan De Sanctis to stay out.
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Roma looked like a different side after the interval, creating numerous chances before Destro levelled things up in the 54th minute, guiding the ball home from inside the box after collecting a headed pass from Manchester United target Kevin Strootman.
Garcia's men dug deep in the closing stages, peppering the Palermo goal with efforts from Miralem Pjanic and Alessandro Florenzi, but neither of them managed to find the target.
The result leaves Roma two points behind Juventus in the division, but the Old Lady can widen the gap if they win their match in hand.
Mark Langshaw
