Palermo just about held off the Rossoneri tide at the Stadio Renzo Barbera, letting Dorin Goian's first half goal stand as the sole score of the match. League leaders AC Milan pressed incredible hard for the equaliser and came close a number of times towards the end of the game, but some spectacular saves from Salvatore Sirigu kept the home side in front and eventually earned them all three points in a pulsating fixture.
Palermo Vs. Milan: Dorin Goian’s Goal Is Margin Of Palermo Victory At Full Time
If Palermo had conceded, they would only have had themselves to blame after wasting several opportunities to score a second - they counterattacked at speed regularly in the second half against a flimsy-looking Milan defence, but simply couldn’t find the right pass or get a shot on target. The most blatant example was Daniel Martinez’s miss after he and Fabrizio Miccoli were one on one against Alessandro Nesta, but similar chances presented themselves throughout the half and were simply not taken advantage of.
Milan, meanwhile, always looked capable of breaking down the defence, and were exceptionally patient in their buildup play. After Pato was forced off with 25 minutes to go, Robinho, on in his countryman’s place, gave the visitors further impetus to attack, and his presence was the spark that led to Sirigu’s heroics - the goalkeeper had to be at his best to keep out a hammered shot from Mathieu Flamini and then pulled off a spectacular one-handed save after Antonio Cassano’s header caught his defence unawares.
The loss means that Milan are only five points clear of arch-rivals Inter Milan in second place and six clear of Napoli, and both teams have a game in hand on the leaders (Inter host Lecce tomorrow while the Partenopei entertain Cagliari). Palermo move up into seventh place, although they look unlikely to catch either Roma or Udinese for sixth this season. Still, beating the league leaders always counts for something, and this is a team that could use a confidence boost after what's been a spectacular collapse in 2011.
See More:
