Sun Mar 30 12:17:59 2008

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Coppola saves the day for Atalanta

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Milan, Italy (Sports Network) - Atalanta earned a 2-1 win over AC Milan at the San Siro on Sunday when goalkeeper Ferdinando Coppola saved a penalty kick from Milan's Andrea Pirlo in the game's final minutes.

Sergio Floccari and Antonio Langella put Atalanta ahead 2-0 at the half, but Milan put together a late surge that nearly helped them earn a point. Captain Paolo Maldini scored his first goal of the year in the 85th minute to give the Rossoneri hope, and Massimo Ambrosini then drew a penalty kick minutes later.

However, Pirlo's spot kick was turned away by a fantastic diving stop from Coppola, preserving all three points for the visitors.

The loss further damages Milan's hopes of qualifying for the Champions League as they slipped to sixth place, four points behind Fiorentina. The Viola remained in fourth despite dropping a 3-1 contest to Udinese, who jumped Milan to move into fifth.

The visitors surprised a sluggish Milan side with two first-half goals to put the hosts in a hole.

Poor defending by Milan allowed Atalanta to go in front after 32 minutes when Floccari was allowed to float unmarked into the box. Ferreira Pinto picked out the striker with a cross, but he was denied at close range by Milan goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac. It was a good reaction stop, but the rebound went straight up into the air and Floccari easily tapped it home to make it 1-0.

Bad marking was to blame again 10 minutes later when Atalanta went ahead by two goals. Floccari played provider this time as he slipped a pass to an open Langella in front of goal and he calmly knocked it past Kalac to double the lead.

The home side thought they had pulled a goal back shortly after the restart, but Clarence Seedorf was whistled for offsides, although it appeared that he was level.

Maldini finally got Milan on the scoreboard in the 85th minute when he headed home Pirlo's corner, but the match was not decided until the final minutes when Pirlo stepped to the spot following a foul by Atalanta's Claudio Rivalta.

Pirlo struck the ball well and it was headed for the left corner but Coppola guessed correctly and got a hand to the ball to keep it out.

Marco Borriello scored his league-leading 18th goal of the campaign as Genoa beat Reggina 2-0, Livorno and Siena played to a 0-0 draw, David Di Michele scored in the 63rd minute to give Torino a 2-1 win over Catania Calcio, and Sampdoria scored two goals in the opening 16 minutes and held off Empoli for a 2-0 win.

Parma's match with Juventus was postponed on Sunday when a Parma fan was accidentally knocked down and killed by a bus following a spat with rival supporters.