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Milan 2-0 Parma: Borriello Brace Sends Milan Into Fourth Place
Two goals by Marco Borriello allowed Milan to beat Parma 2-0 at home and reach fourth place in the Serie A table.
Oct 31, 2009 5:46:48 PM
Milan hosted surprise package Parma at San Siro looking for a win to reach the fourth place in the standings.
The first chance fell to the home side in the 9th minute, when Ronaldinho played it to Alexandre Pato, who anticipated Alessandro Lucarelli and found Marco Borriello, whose left-footed volley missed the target.
A minute after that, Parma had a big chance as Blerim Dzemaili made a nice run and fired a powerful shot from 20 meters that was tipped on the woodwork by Nelson Dida.
Milan took the lead in the 12th minute, when Ronaldinho made a great run on the left wing and played in a cross for Borriello, who beat Antonio Mirante with a left-footed shot from inside the area.
Parma reacted and ten minutes later Dida came up with another great save, as he dove to keep out a header by Valeri Bojinov on a perfect assist by Daniele Galloppa.
The Gialloblu were dangerous again in the 34th minute, when Dzemaili found Galloppa in space on the edge of the area, but he wasted a good chance by firing a weak shot that was grabbed by Dida.
The hosts came close to making it 2-0 four minutes before half time, when Ronaldinho played in a dangerous ball into the area which led to a series of rebounds, culminating in a shot by Luca Antonini which went wide.
Borriello scored his first goal in a year for Milan
No changes were made by either coach during the break. Parma started the second half aggressively, and in the 50th minute Dida had to be alert on a powerful low shot by Galloppa.
Six minutes later, Massimo Oddo played in a cross from the right that failed to find either Ronaldinho or Andrea Pirlo in the area, and the ball eventually fell to Clarence Seedorf, whose shot was saved by Mirante's foot.
After a quiet period in the match, Parma had a big chance in the 71st minute, when Milan youth product Alberto Paloschi controlled a long pass by Galloppa on the edge of the area and fired a shot that went just wide, although Dida may have gotten a touch on it.
The Rossoneri mostly limited themselves to controlling the result in the final part of the match, although in the 83rd minute they came close to scoring a second goal. Ronaldinho played a great pass to Pato, who eluded the offside trap and played in a cross which was just missed by Borriello.
Another chance for Milan came three minutes later, when Thiago Silva fired the ball on the crossbar as he tried to finalize a nice one-two with Borriello.
The Italian striker did find a second goal in injury time, when he beat Mirante with a nice overhead kick on a cross by Ronaldinho.
That sealed the victory for Milan, who jumped to fourth place in the table with 19 points.
Danilo Pochini, Goal.com
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