Parma 2-1 AC Milan: Promoted hosts savour famous victory

Promoted Parma pulled off a shock 2-1 home victory over AC Milan in Serie A on Saturday.

Defeat for Milan, their first against Parma in the top-flight since 2014, extended Paulo Fonseca’s wait for his first win as coach of the Rossoneri.

Parma stunned Milan with an early opener through Dennis Man, who struck with his first touch after 84 seconds, having also netted on the opening weekend of the season.

Man is the first Parma player to score in the first two matchdays of a Serie A season since Alberto Paloschi in 2009-10.

Christian Pulisic equalised for Milan in the 66th minute after Rafael Leao fed a low pass into the path of the American winger, who finished from close range.

But, after being set up by fellow substitute Pontus Almqvist, it was Matteo Cancellieri who restored Parma’s lead with 13 minutes left, and Parma held on to seal a famous victory.

Milan, who scored two last-gasp goals to secure a 2-2 draw in their season opener against Torino, remain on one point in the standings ahead of a key trip to play Lazio next week.

2 – Prior to Dennis #Man, the last #Parma player to score in both of the first two matchdays of a #SerieA season was Alberto Paloschi in 2009-10, against Udinese and Catania. Impact.#ParmaMilan

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) August 24, 2024

Data Debrief: Milan pay price for poor finishing

With Alvaro Morata out through injury, Milan lacked a cutting edge in this contest.

They managed 17 shots, but found the target with just five of them, scoring just once from an expected goals (xG) total of 2.01. Leao was among the main culprits, failing to trouble the goalkeeper from four attempts.

Parma managed the same amount of attempts on target as Milan (five) from just nine total shots, and Cancellieri has developed a reputation as a super sub.

Five of his six goals in Serie A have come as a substitute and four of those have come from the 70th minute of play onwards.