VIDEO: Pavoletti spectacularly rounds off brace as Genoa routs Palermo

Milan - Leonardo Pavoletti hit a brace - including a sensational volley at the death - as Genoa downed 10-man Palermo 4-0 on Sunday to boost its bid to beat the drop from Italy's Serie A.

Palermo travelled north looking for a fresh start after former Argentina international Guillermo Barros Schelotto took over from sacked coach Davide Ballardini last week.

Ballardini, who took over from Giuseppe Iachini two months ago, was shown the door by trigger-happy Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini despite the Sicilians' 1-0 win at rock bottom Verona.

Spanish striker Suso, signed from AC Milan during the winter transfer window, opened the scoring after just four minutes at the Luigi Ferraris stadium.

But it took the host until after the 65th minute, when Sinisa Andelkovic saw red for a second bookable offence, to really pile the pressure on.

Pavoletti doubled Genoa's lead in the 71st minute when he was left unmarked in the area to nod Cristian Ansaldi's cross past a static Stefano Sorrentino.

Ansaldi turned provider again four minutes later, when Tomas Rincon ran into the area to sidefoot a first-timer past Sorrentino.

Pavoletti capped Genoa's performance with an acrobatic bicycle kick, the striker again being picked out by Ansaldi only two minutes from the whistle.

Genoa's sixth win of the campaign moved it up to 16th to sit 22 points behind leader Napoli but seven clear of third-from-bottom Frosinone, who is one place and six points behind Palermo.