ROME, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Palermo beat Lecce 2-0 at home on Thursday to move three points off the top of Serie A.

Palermo went ahead in the 27th minute when Abel Hernandez surged into the box on the counter-attack down the right flank. And the penalty was inevitable when Nenad Tomovic mistimed his tackle.

It was coolly converted by Mauricio Pinilla, who sent Massimiliano Benassi the wrong way.

Lecce went very close to an equalizer, as Alexandros Tzorvas meekly parried a Christian Obodo strike from distance and Corvia fired the follow-up over under pressure.

Palermo doubled their lead with a counter-attack. The ball was won back in midfield and immediately threaded through for Hernandez, who exchanged passes with Eran Zahavi to toe-poke it through a sea of legs in at the near post.

Fabrizio Miccoli had the opportunity to make it 3-0 when he ran clear from a smart through ball, but flashed his angled drive across the face of goal.

Juan Cuadrado's snapshot was also across the six-yard box to skim the far post after good work from Andrea Bertolacci.

Benassi needed a desperate double save when Miccoli's chipped pass found a Hernandez header at the back post and the follow-up from Edgar Barreto.