Pirlo sends Milan top after Parma win

AC Milan went top of Serie A for a day at least as Andrea Pirlo scored the only goal of the game to earn a 1-0 victory at Parma on Saturday.

Several teams can go back above Milan if they win on Sunday but seeing the Rossoneri go top this early in the season is an ominous sign for the rest of the division.

In truth the margin of victory should have been considerably wider as Milan, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in particular missed a sackful of chances.

The defeat left Parma hovering above the relegation zone only on goal difference but they will likely drop down into the bottom three on Sunday.

Milan showed their intent from the off as Ibrahimovic got free in the box on two minutes but dragged his cross-shot wide.

Parma rarely threatened but they did have a great chance on 12 minutes as Angelo crossed for former Milan striker Hernan Crespo but he stooped so low to try to head the ball under pressure from Alessandro Nesta that he failed to get anything behind his effort.

Milan were soon back on the attack as Ibrahimovic played a one-two with Clarence Seedorf but shot straight at Antonio Mirante.

The visitors had the lead on 25 minutes as Pirlo found space and crashed a stunning shot from 30 yards, that moved wickedly in the air, into the top corner.

The seven-time European champions found their swagger and Ronaldinho created a pair of chances, chipping over the backline for Ibrahimovic but Mirante came out well to block his shot while Ronaldinho repeated the trick for Robinho only for his countryman’s header to lack power.

Ibrahimovic then shrugged off his marker to home in one-on-one on Mirante but incredibly he shot three times straight at the goalkeeper before the ball was cleared.

Full-back Luca Antonini got behind the Parma defence on the stroke of half-time from Pirlo’s pass but no-one arrived to touch home his pull-back.

It was more of the same in the second period as Robinho miscued horribly when well placed and then Ronaldinho let fly from distance only for Mirante to come to the rescue again and tip the ball over the bar on 63 minutes.

Parma finally threatened 12 minutes from time as Blerim Dzemaili forced a sprawling save out of Christian Abbiati with a skidding daisy-cutter.

But on the counter attack Ronaldinho beat the offside trap but from the left curled his shot past the far post.

Earlier in the day Udinese finally won their first game of the season at the sixth attempt as Mehdi Benatia scored deep into injury time in a 1-0 success over Cesena, although Udinese remain bottom.