Chievo Verona 1 - 1 Catania

Chievo Verona 1-1 Catania

Updated: February 15, 2009, 1:16 PM ET

The decision to allow the much-travelled midfielder to join Domenico di Carlo's side in January proved to be Catania's undoing as he cancelled out Pablo Ledesma's penalty with a close-range tap in in injury time to snatch a vital point for the relegation-threatened side.

The result was Chievo's fourth successive 1-1 draw and moves Di Carlo's side level on points with 18th-placed Torino while Catania remain in 14th.

Di Carlo had called on his side to take all three points in the match earlier this week by describing the game as a must-win fixture.

They got off to the worst possible start, however, when Luca Rigoni bought down Takayuki Morimoto inside the Chievo area in the 10th minute.

Referee Mauro Bergonzi pointed to the spot and Ledesma coolly slotted home into the bottom right-hand corner to give Catania a shock lead.

Chievo went on the attack as they tried to restore parity and Catania goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri had to be at his best to keep out Sergio Pellissier's long-range effort shortly after.

The home side thought they should have had a penalty in the 25th minute when Mariano Izco appeared to handle Andrea Mantovani's cross in the Catania area but Bergonzi waved away their protests.

Chievo continued to press and Bizzarri had to be alert to keep Pellissier's header out from point-blank range shortly after.

Catania held firm under more Chievo pressure before they almost doubled their lead when Izco attempted to play through strike partner Morimoto in the box only for Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino to stop the attack with a crucial intervention.

Di Carlo became increasingly frustrated with his side's failure to turn chances into goals and replaced Rigoni with Colucci five minutes before the break.

Pellissier then wasted another chance to put Chievo on terms just after Colucci's introduction and Vincenzo Italiano called Bizzarri into action straight after half time.

Another chance went begging when Brazilian midfielder Luciano broke through the Catania defence and curled a right-foot ball across the Catania box but Giampiero Pinzi just failed to connect from six yards.

Catania then settled into their stride and started to take the game to Chievo and Alessandro Potenza almost gave the away side a 2-0 lead but he drilled a right-foot shot high over the bar from a Jorge Martinez cross.

The away side's confidence was clearly growing and Martinez's stinging 35-yard effort called Sorrentino into action with 20 minutes left.

Catania continued to press and Walter Zenga's side thought they had sealed the win with three minutes left when Ledesma picked out Martinez and he slotted past Sorrentino only for Bergonzi to disallow the effort for offside.

Catania looked comfortable as they attempted to hold on but Colucci popped up in the Sicilians' box to head home Pellissier's cross in the second minute of stoppage time to steal a point and deny Catania their first away win of the season.