A Costly Win

Mario Yepes

Milan 3 Palermo 1

Inviting the pink panthers to the San Siro has proved to be fatal in the recent past. With the additions of Pastore, Pinilla and Ilicic, Palermo are looking more intimidating than they have over the last few years. When you have a leaky defense and are facing one of the most talented attacks in Italy, you have to be brave and respond in attack. Allegri did just that. It seems like the Italian is finally finding the missing pieces of the puzzle. Seedorf had one his best games in a Milan shirt this season in the trequartista role against Bari which merited his start in the same position in this game. Boatang returned from suspension whilst Gattuso took his turn on the bench after accumulating the cards. Pirlo started from the bench for the second game running.


Milan bossed the possession in the first period giving the visitors very little time on the ball when not in possession. Palermo resorted to a counter attacking style to hurt Milan but they weren't prepared for a solid almost impermeable defense that AC Milan had set up that night. Pato opened the scoring after some horrific man marking from a corner. Seedorf adds another to the assist list. Ambrosini who has been reformed into an anchor man this season was flying into challenges and thereby found his name in the book. Palermo's attack was severely blunted by our defense. This is arguably the best defensive performance that I have seen from Milan in the last couple of years. Fantastic organization and positioning by the back 4. Credit must also go to Flamini and Boatang for closing down the midfielders and tracking back to assist the defenders. Pastore barely touched the ball which was largely due to precise defensive tactics employed by Allegri, who had clearly done his homework. One man who did disappoint in the first half for Milan was Zlatan. He just hasn't settled down at the club and is beginning to look rather jaded if not disinterested.

Palermo threatened more in the second half. Pastore sustained a knock and was replaced with Miccoli. Rossi put on a striker to assist Pinilla who was struggling against Silva and Yepes because he was isolated from his midfielders. A blip was around the corner and it arrived with Bacinovic's goal. It was a well placed shot into the left bottom corner of the net. Abbiati stood motionless without even trying to go for the ball. A sense of urgency seeped into Milan; Seedorf pushed from a deeper position and nearly scored only to be denied by the post. Boatang disappeared in the second half. His passing and shooting was top class in the first half but went mising in the second. The Rossoneri's efforts in attack were duly rewarded by Sirigu as he brought down Ambrosini in the box. The penalty was dispatched with confidence by Zlatan to give the hosts a deserved lead. Prior to this, Pato limped off with an injury and was replaced with Inzaghi who in-turn was injured during the build up to the penalty. Facing a draw before the derby was unacceptable to the home side which pushed Ambrosini out of the deep to make the runs from midfield. Robinho, who replaced Inzaghi was very fortunate on the third goal. Ibrahimovic sprinted down the left to cut the ball back to the Brazilian who hit the ball straight at the keeper before it sneaked under him and crossed the lined. Robinho had the chance to repay the favor to Ibrahimovic later in the game, but was very lazy with his pass. Milan at this stage were relying on counters and should have comfortably scored a couple more. The man of the match however was Mario Yepes who played his first game for his new club at the Meazza. He was like a rock at the back and made it very hard for the Palermo front men to get past him. Of course, Silva had a role in making Yepes look that good.

The points earned against Palermo are crucial for Milan and I mean that not only from the table perspective. Yes, we are at the top of the table, alone, after Lazio's loss away to Cesena. And yes, we haven't been top of the table, alone, since November 2, 2008. But we have beaten Palermo after they did the double on us last season. Palermo have psychologically messed with Milan in the past and have been a thorn in Milan's seasons. This win will help balance the records and the psyche. But the win has come at a cost. Inzaghi has been ruled out for the rest of the season and Pato will miss the next 2 games. Well, the next game is the Milan derby! One can imagine what our attack would be with an out of sorts Robinho in attack. But more importantly, it is the loss of Inzaghi that could cost us in the long run.

Milan - Pato 19', Zlatan pen 77', Robinho 83'
Palermo - Bacinovic 63'