Parma have been dealt a cruel injury blow as playmaker Sebastian Giovinco has been ruled out for a month.

Giovinco arguably been one of Parma’s most impressive players during the first four Serie A games was forced to withdraw at half time during Wednesdays draw with Lecce.

The news means manager Pasquale Marino will have to rethink his teams tactics for Sundays upcoming clash with Fiorentina.

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Hernán Crespo’s first Serie A goal of the season cancelled out Nelson Jeda’s spot kick to earn Parma an ultimately disappointing draw away to Lecce.

Lecce took the lead on the half hour mark after Massimo Gobbi’s woeful backpass was intercepted by David Di Michele only for Massimo Paci to clear off the line. Ignacio Piatti picked up the ball who was then fouled by Alessandro Lucarelli allowing Jeda to convert the penalty.

Sebastian Giovinco had to be removed at half time due to thigh problems and was replaced by former Lecce hero Valeri Bojinov.

Di Michele could have doubled Lecce’s lead on the hour mark but for a sublime finger tip save from Antonio Mirante to take it around the post.

Former Lecce player Angelo provided the equaliser for Parma on 69 minutes bringing a long ball under control to put a low cross in for Crespo to slot it past Rosati at his near post.

Lecce

Rosati; Mesbah, Gustavo, Ferrario, Giuliatto; Giacomazzi; Vives, Piatti (Olivera 59), Grossmuller, Di Michele (Corvia 80); Jeda (Ofere 58)

Parma

Mirante; Gobbi, Paci, A Lucarelli, Zaccardo; Candreva (Angelo 61), Morrone, Valiani; Marques, Crespo (Dzemaili 76), Giovinco (Bojinov 46)

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Cristian Zaccardo was both the hero and villain for Parma in today’s 1-1 draw with Genoa both giving away a penalty and netting the equaliser.

Parma were the first to hit the back of the net on twenty minutes however it was disallowed due to Valeri Bojinov straying into an offside position.

However Genoa took the lead eight minutes later as Cristian Zaccardo conceded Parma’s third penalty in two games for a handling offence, leaving Luca Toni to confidently strike home the spot kick.

Zaccardo nearly grabbed Parma the equaliser in first half stoppage time but he could only nod Antonelli’s cross just wide. While Valiani’s attempt to shoot from range was blocked by Eduardo.

Parma finally got the equaliser with twenty minutes remaining as Zaccardo, making amends for his earlier by meeting Bojinov’s freekick by heading it into the bottom corner.

Marqués thought he had turned the game around for Parma with eight minutes to go however his effort was clawed off the line by Eduardo leaving both teams with a result that means little to either of them.

Parma

Mirante; Zaccardo, Paci, Paletta, Antonelli; Valiani, Morrone, Gobbi (Candreva 55); Giovinco, Bojinov (Crespo 73), Marques

Genoa

Eduardo; Rossi, Ranocchia, Dainelli, Criscito; Rafinha, Milanetto, Miguel Veloso (Kharja 61); Palacio (Sculli 66), Toni, Mesto (Chico 85)

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Goalkeepers

83 Mirante, 1 Pavarini, 16 Russo

Defenders

13 Ângelo, 3 Antonelli, 51 Dellafiore, 2 Feltscher, 24 Paci, 29 Paletta, 26 Pisano, 5 Zaccardo

Midfielders

7 Candreva, 10 Dzemaili, 18 Gobbi, 4 Morrone, 80 Valiani

Forwards

86 Bojinov, 9 Crespo, 21 Giovinco, 8 Marqués

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Parma suffered a surprise defeat away to Catania this afternoon thanks to two dubious penalty decisions from match referee Dino Tommasi. Leaving Sebastian Giovinco’s superb freekick as little more than a consolation goal.

Catania took the lead after 12 minutes from the penalty spot where after chaos in the box Massimo Paci was adjudged to have Nicolas Spolli’s shirt resulting in Mascara duly converting the spot kick.

Zaccardo nearly gave Parma the equaliser almost immediately instead shooting straight at Andujar while moments later Zaccardo missed another opportunity this time firing over from an empty net.

Andujar clawed a Paci header from a corner kick off the line and again denied Valiani on the half hour mark as Parma were pouring forward in search of the equaliser.

Zaccardo once again was denied by the Catania keeper with a desperate reaction save from point blank range after the restart. Sebastian Giovinco also saw his superb freekick rattle the wrong side of the post before flashing a half volley across goal.

But it was another penalty that would kill the game off with ten minutes to go as Paci commited another clumsy challenge to allow Antenucci to score from the penalty spot sending Antonio Mirante the wrong way.

Sebastian Giovinco finally got a goal back for Parma in injury time from a trademark freekick but it was too little too late as Parma suffered their first defeat of the season.

While Alessandro Lucarelli and Pasquale Marino were both sent off for continued and possibly deserved protesting.

Catania

Andujar; Potenza, Silvestre, Spolli, Capuano; Izco (Gomez 57), Biagianti, Ledesma; Ricchiuti (Carboni 57); Maxi Lopez (Antenucci 79), Mascara

Parma

Mirante; Antonelli, Lucarelli, Paci, Zaccardo; Gobbi (Candreva 62), Morrone, Valiani; Marques, Bojinov (Crespo 62), Giovinco

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Goalkeepers

83 Mirante, 1 Pavarini, 16 Russo

Defenders

13 Ângelo, 3 Antonelli, 51 Dellafiore, 2 Feltscher, 6 Lucarelli, 24 Paci, 29 Paletta, 26 Pisano, 5 Zaccardo

Midfielders

7 Candreva, 10 Dzemaili, 18 Gobbi, 4 Morrone, 80 Valiani

Forwards

86 Bojinov, 9 Crespo, 21 Giovinco, 8 Marqués

Parma left back Luca Antonelli made his first appearance for the Italian national side, coming on as a substitute in Italy’s 2-1 victory over Estonia yesterday.

Antonio Mirante was also in the squad but will have to wait to make his debut as he featured on the bench.

However there wasn’t good news for either Alberto Paloschi or Valeri Bojinov as they both picked up injuries in their respective international matches.

Paloschi’s injury was serious enough to rule him out of the Wales match on Tuesday while Bojinov is just thought to have suffered a minor muscle cramp.

Rolf Feltscher also played a part in the Switzerland U21′s match against Ireland.

Lecce right back Angelo Mariano de Almeida officially became a Parma player after his presentation press conference yesterday.

The 29 year old put pen to paper on a one year deal after his contract with Lecce expired over the summer.

Angelo enjoyed a prolific season for a defender scoring 7 goals during Lecces promotion campaign.

At his press conference Angelo spoke of his delight at finally making the jump to Serie A and that he admires current Parma coach Pasquale Marino for a tactical approach that is similar to that of his mentor at Lecce Zdenek Zeman.

During the last hours of the transfer market Parma have confirmed that five players have left the club on loan.

Gabriele Paonessa who signed from Bologna during the summer in a co-ownership deal will play for Cesena next season while Matteo Mandorlini will play in Serie B with Piacenza.

Alessio Manzoni who spent last season on loan at Atalanta will play next season at Albinoleffe and Bosnian striker Milan Djuric will turn out for Ascoli.

In what’s probably Parma’s last signing of the summer before Tuesday’s market deadline Udinese midfielder Antonio Candreva has signed on loan for the season.

The 23 year old impressed enough during his two year loan spell with Livorno to earn a call up to the national side in 2009 before moving to Juventus on loan for the second half of the season.

The transfer press conference is set for tomorrow evening with a specific time still to be confirmed.