Palermo beat Milan to blow title race open

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ROME, March 20 (AFP): Palermo stunned AC Milan 1-0 on Saturday to end a run of five straight defeats and blow the Serie A title race wide open. Romania centre-back Dorin Goian was the unlikely hero, scoring the only goal of a game that could result in Milan's lead being cut. The rossoneri came into the game five points clear of champions and city rivals Inter Milan, who play Lecce on Sunday, while Napoli could also reduce the arrears to three points if they beat Cagliari. Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri admitted that his team missed suspended striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. "We didn't play well in the first half and we made many mistakes in the final third," he said. "In the second half we did better, we created a few chances but we weren't very clinical. "We'll kick on from here. We started with a five-point advantage and we'll see what Inter and Napoli do. "Ibrahimovic is important for us but tonight we needed to do more. We didn't do it but we'll analyse it calmly, knowing that at the end of the weekend we'll still be top." Palermo's win also improved their hopes of securing European football next season. They got off to a great start as they took the lead after just 10 minutes from a corner. Ezequiel Munoz rose at the back post to head the ball back across goal where Giulio Migliaccio nodded it into the middle and the unmarked Goian had time to control the ball, turn and volley home. Milan's response was almost immediate as a Clarence Seedorf corner somehow flashed across the face of the six-yard box with Alessandro Nesta sliding in a fraction too late to turn it in at the back post.