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Christian Rigano' marked his first start in three months with a brace, but Palermo were furious after this fiery Sicilian derby.
The Sicilian derby was open to all supporters despite fears this was a high-risk game. The two rivals were on opposite ends of the table, as Messina struggle against relegation with new Coach Alberto Cavasin and the Rosanero aim to hang on to third place. Amauri and Eugenio Corini were ruled out, further weakening off-form Palermo, while Daniele De Vezze was suspended for the home side. Christian Rigano' returned for his first start in three months after a groin strain.
Nicolas Caglioni rushed out to close down Franco Brienza - surprisingly picked ahead of Andrea Caracciolo - as he ran on to Fabio Simplicio's assist.
Brienza again tested the Messina goalkeeper from distance, then Rea performed a crucial tackle on Brienza from Mark Bresciano's cutback with the aid of a David Di Michele dummy.
Roberto Guana's long-range effort was beaten away by Caglioni and Simplicio couldn't get enough power on the finish from a promising position.
The home side went extremely close on 31 minutes, as Marco Zanchi's header from a corner kick thumped the upright.
Di Michele felt he deserved a penalty for a Lavecchia tackle and he had more than a good shout, as he had already nutmegged the defender when he was brought down, but the referee only booked Brienza for his protests.
Messina took the lead in first half stoppages and it was that man Rigano', who hadn't started a game in three months. He rose above Cristian Zaccardo for a powerful header from Edgar Alvarez's cross and was visibly moved at the breakthrough.
However, replays show Alvarez was clearly offside when the pass came in and during the break Palermo director Rino Foschi was red-carded from the bench for dissent.
The Rosanero hit the woodwork when Caglioni only pushed Brienza's strike into the air and as it came down Zaccardo was only able to head it on to the upright from a yard.
Palermo were unlucky and shook the frame of the goal for the second time with a long-range Di Michele strike that came off the post.
Caracciolo proved just why he hasn't been chosen recently, as the striker was sent off two minutes after stepping on to the field. The substitute felt he deserved a penalty, but saw red for dissent, as he pushed the referee.
Unsurprisingly, soon after Messina made it 2-0 with Rigano'. Once again Alvarez sprinted on the counter-attack for the hitman's diving header.
Alvarez had a good solo effort that he turned over from a tight angle and Rigano's hat-trick was denied by a cool save on his header.
However, Di Michele could've put Palermo back in the game with a solo effort that whistled inches past the post.
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