Palermo 2-1 Napoli

Palermo made a winning start to their Serie A campaign at the expense of Napoli.

Fabrizio Miccoli scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot after Marek Hamsik had cancelled out Edinson Cavani's opener for the home side.

It was the ideal start for the Sicilian club under new coach Walter Zenga, while Napoli's search continues for their first Serie A away win of 2009.

The Partenopei last collected all three points on their travels on October 26, when they beat Lazio 1-0.

Palermo are hoping to break into the top six in Italy this season, and Miccoli almost gave them the perfect start today when he forced visiting goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis to parry a drive after just seven minutes.

Napoli's response four minutes later saw Fabio Quagliarella hit the right post with a superbly-struck shot from 25 yards following a counter-attack.

Cavani had Palermo's next chance on the quarter-hour mark, trying his luck from the edge of the area following an assist from Miccoli, but the striker cleared the bar with his effort.

Again Napoli hit back and Hamsik had the ball in the back of the net with his 23rd-minute header, but referee Roberto Rosetti deemed the player to be offside.

The visitors were proving tricky customers for Palermo, and they hit the woodwork for the second time in the match after 33 minutes with Christian Maggio's header coming back off the crossbar.

It was another huge let-off for Zenga's men, and this time they responded with the opening goal a minute before the interval.

Maggio made a mess of his clearance inside his own penalty box, and Cavani pounced to turn the ball in from close range.

Napoli had failed to take their chances so far in the match, and another opening went begging at the start of the second half.

Hamsik played the perfect ball in for Quagliarella, who only had goalkeeper Fernando Rubinho to beat but somehow screwed his shot wide of the left post.

Federico Balzaretti then tried to add to Palermo's lead with a speculative shot from distance, but the defender failed to trouble De Sanctis.

Napoli finally got the break they deserved after 73 minutes thanks to Hamsik, who unleashed a powerful shot from 35 yards which beat Rubinho and nestled in the top right corner.

But their jubilation lasted just two minutes when Denis Zuniga was punished for a challenge in the area on Cavani.

Miccoli stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick and made no mistake to restore Palermo's lead.

Quagliarella's attempts to get Napoli back on level terms produced a good save from Rubinho eight minutes from time, while Hugh Campagnaro fired wide for the visitors two minutes later when it seemed easier to score.

Palermo almost snatched a third goal as the whistle approached, with Marco Bresciano launching a counter-attack which ended with Cavani firing wide of the left post.