The visitors produced a scintillating second-half display to come away with a 4-3 win at Sicily's Renzo Barbero which lifts them one point clear of the relegation zone.

Strikes from Fernando Couto, Andrea Gasbarroni and Giuseppe Rossi turned the game on its head after Francesco Guidolin's side had gone into the break in the lead.

Igor Budan had put Parma ahead on 25 minutes before Mark Bresciano and a David Di Michele penalty looked to have put the hosts in control.

But after having Marco Pisano sent off early in the second half they were put to the sword by a ruthless Parma and Cristian Zaccardo's goal in injury time proved too little too late.

While the result is a real boost to Claudio Ranieri's side's chances of survival, it is a major blow to Palermo's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League and leaves them seven points behind fourth-placed AC Milan.

Parma almost went ahead on 19 minutes when on-loan Manchester United youngster Rossi's acrobatic volley forced Palermo goalkeeper Alberto Fontana into action.

And the visitors opened the scoring six minutes later, Croatian forward Budan slotting home a cross from the centre of the area.

But Palermo were level in the 36th minute, Edinson Cavani setting up Australian midfielder Bresciano to shoot past Parma stopper Luca Bucci to score against his old club.

And they almost made it two minutes later when Fabio Simplicio's snapshot from outside the box whistled just off target.

In first-half injury time the hosts were awarded a penalty after a handball by Couto and Di Michele fired them into the lead from the spot.

But the veteran Portuguese defender made amends immediately after the restart when he came up for a corner and headed the equaliser past Fontana.

Palermo should have regained the advantage two minutes later, Di Michele somehow missing from a yard out with the goal gaping, and things went from bad to worse on 58 minutes when Pisanu was given a straight red card for a bad foul.

From then on it was all Parma and they took a deserved lead in the 71st minute, Gasbarroni taking Domenico Morfeo's pass in his stride and shooting across Fontana into the far corner.

Nine minutes later it was four. Morfeo was again at the heart of the move, leading a breakaway before laying the ball into the path of Rossi to fire past Fontana as he rushed off his line.

Zaccardo managed to scramble home a right-wing corner to give Palermo a glimmer of hope in stoppage time, but Parma held on to claim three points which could prove crucial in their battle against the drop.

Vince Grella played a lesser role in the match, coming on as a substitute for Francesco Parravicini for the second time in as many weeks.