AC Milan's crisis deepened when they lost 4-2 at home to Parma after playing for almost the entire match with 10 men on Sunday, a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions for Clarence Seedorf's rudderless team.
Milan, who had goalkeeper Christian Abbiati sent off in the fifth minute, came to life as they clawed back a 2-0 deficit, only for Parma forwards Amauri, with a brilliant back-heeled flick, and Jonathan Biabiany to win the game with two late goals.
Lazio eased their problems with a 2-0 win at Cagliari, Livorno's 2-1 win over Bologna pulled them out of the relegation zone and Sassuolo came from behind to beat Catania 3-1 in the meeting of the bottom two.
Milan, knocked out of the Champions League after an emphatic 4-1 defeat by Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, are stuck in 12th place with 35 points from 28 games after their 11th league defeat of a miserable campaign.
Milan fans staged a protest outside the San Siro before kickoff with striker Mario Balotelli and chief executive Adriano Galliani the main targets.
It quickly got worse when goalkeeper Abbiati clattered into Ezequiel Schelotto and suffered the so-called triple punishment of penalty, red card and automatic one-match suspension.
Midfielder Michael Essien was sacrificed to make way for substitute goalkeeper Marco Amelia, whose first job was to pick the ball out the back of the net as former Milan player Antonio Cassano fired home the penalty.
It seemed to be all over when Cassano was given too much space and added a second six minutes after halftime, but Roberto Donadoni's team then relaxed.
Adil Rami headed one back from a corner five minutes later and Balotelli levelled with a 76th minute penalty, harshly awarded after Riccardo Montolivo went down under Joel Obi's challenge.
A heroic draw or even win was on the cards but it quickly turned to disaster when Schelotto fired over a low cross from the right and Amauri got in front of Nigel de Jong's sliding challenge and brilliantly flicked the ball in with his heel.
Milan finished dispirited and demoralised and left the pitch to a howl of protests after Biabiany headed the fourth with the last move of the game.
Lazio, whose fans are furious with club president Claudio Lotito over a lack of investment in the team, won 2-0 at Cagliari with goals by Senad Lulic and Keita Balde to climb to seventh (41 points).
Teenager Balde's goal came one minute after Mauricio Pinilla missed a penalty for Cagliari, who again played in front of less than 5,000 fans due to ongoing rebuilding work at their Sant'Elia stadium.
Sassuolo's win lifted them off the bottom of the table to 19th with 21 points, where they were replaced by opponents Catania (20). Bologna (23) dropped into the bottom three below Livorno and Chievo (24).
Sampdoria's revival was abruptly halted with a 3-0 loss at Atalanta.
Comments
0 comment