Palermo continue to remain in the relegation zone in Serie A as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Cagliari away from home.

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The Rosanero survived an early scare when Stefano Sorrentino denied Mauricio Pinilla and regained composure to surge ahead on the half-hour mark.

Andrea Dossena ran down the left wing and set up Josip Ilicic, who smashed home past Michael Agazzi.

However, Palermo could have conceded the equaliser before the break had Sorrentino not been alert to an oncoming Marco Sau.

Cagliari stepped up their game in the second half, with substitute Thiago Ribeiro trying his luck after the hour mark but in vain.

Sorrentino denied Sau again to keep the scoreline in Palermo's favour heading into the final minutes of the encounter.

However, he failed to do anything in the 90th minute when Danilo Avelar picked out Ribeiro to equalise with a glancing header.

The match ended amid ugly scenes, as Palermo coach Gian Piero Gasperini and on-bench striker Fabrizio Miccoli were sent to the dressing room for a heated argument with the referee.