Davide Ballardini's side would have been looking forward to tonight's visit by Juventus, Amauri's first Serie A return to Stadio Renzo Barbera since leaving the Sicily club for the Old Lady last summer. Palermo sat in 9th before Giornata 25 got underway, while Juventus held second, a long way behind leaders Inter.
However, Amauri started on the bench tonight - Juventus were handed a real boost with a first start of the season for prolific French striker David Trezeguet, who captained the side. Alessandro Del Piero also sat out, suggesting both will feature against Chelsea in midweek.
After a delayed kick off, a blistering first five minutes saw near misses for both sides.
It took just two minutes for Palermo's Fabrizio Miccoli to bring the very best out of Gigi Buffon. The former Bianconero brilliantly pulled down a nice cross from Mark Bresciano, but was unable to poke the ball past the imperious goalkeeper.
In the fourth, Miccoli was - amazingly - even more unlucky. A neat pull-back gave him a chance for a first-time shot which rattled the bottom of Buffon's crossbar.
Rosanero stopper Marco Amelia was called into action just seconds later as Juve began to play their part in a frantic few minutes.
Palermo controlled the pace of the first quarter, but the Bianconeri countered well. For Palermo, Federico Balzaretti was having a superb game bombing up and down the left wing. Pavel Nedved and Momo Sissoko were tidy in possession for Juve but found Trezeguet and Vincenzo Iaquinta being wonderfully marshalled by Danish defender Simon Kjær.
With that in mind, Momo Sissoko took matters into his own hands in the 27th minute. He opened the scoring with a vicious strike past Amelia into the top corner from the edge of the box, after bursting from the half way line past two opponents.
Palermo again took the initiative, but it was Amelia who needed to be alert four minutes before half time. More deft dribbling by Sissoko gave Nedved a chance to run at the defence. Amelia was more than equal to his left-footed strike.
A minute later, the Italian goalkeeper was forced to save with his knee from an advancing Iaquinta, but Buffon was able to breathe a sigh of relief as he watched Edison Cavani's low drive squeeze wide of his left-hand post.
Palermo started the second period brightest and in the 52nd minute should have been awarded a penalty - though it took me a replay to see that Miccoli's cross was blocked by the hand of Nicola Legrottaglie. That said, the assistant referee was at a much better angle than I was. I'm in London.
Antonio Nocerino induced the first real save after the break. After 62 minutes, he sent an audacious volley from a tight angle towards Buffon's top corner. Gigi made light work of tipping it over.
Shortly afterwards, Miccoli's shot was palmed dangerously back into the six yard box by Buffon, but Zdenek Grygera was able to clear the ball away from the eager Rosanero.
Amelia kept Palermo in the game on 74 minutes, putting a strong, instinctive hand behind a close-range shot from Amauri. The recently-introduced substitute had been set up by a cut-back from Nedved on the left.
But with 12 minutes to go, Juve skipper David Trezeguet benefitted from some great work on the left wing by former Palermo striker Amauri. The Frenchman sealed the win for Juventus, tapping past Amelia with a little help from a deflection.
So Juventus go three points closer to Inter, but they had to work hard and probably didn't deserve it. Palermo were more impressive, but the Old Lady's quality in front of goal set them apart from the Sicilians.
Goals: Sissoko 27, Trezeguet 79 (Juventus)
twofootedtackle Man of the Match: Simon Kjær, Palermo. The Juventus attackers got precious little change out of the 24-year-old
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