AC Milan and Parma played out a delirious encounter at the Stadio Ennio Tardini, ending in a berserk 5-4 win for Filippo Inzaghi’s men.
Giacomo Bonaventura got the first for AC Milan on 25 minutes, but Antonio Cassano equalised just a minute later. Keisuke Honda then a Jeremy Menez penalty increased the Rossoneri’s advantage, but Felipe pulled one back for the home side not long after the break.
Nigel de Jong, then Alessandro Lucarelli, Menez once more and a Mattia De Sciglio own goal completed the crazy match. Felipe and Daniele Bonera were sent off of their respective sides.
The game didn’t get off to the brightest start and both sides appeared reserved in their approach, but it was all set to change in due course.
Parma won the first corner on six minutes when Cassano evaded the Milan defence to let Ishak Belfodil in on the near post, but Diego Lopez was on hand to smother a tame effort and bail out his centre halves.
Chances came few and far between, with reckless challenges from both sides dominating the first quarter of the game.
The Diavolo came closest to bothering the scoreboard technicians when a Honda freekick from the right wing found Alex unmarked in the box, but the hefty Brazilian failed to make clean contact while Antonio Mirante got out of jail parrying the ball unconvincingly into a dangerous area.
It didn’t take long for the goals to start flying in, though. Debutant Bonaventura got off to a dream start in the red-and-black, opening the scoring on 25 minutes with a scuffed shot across Mirante after setting himself up with a neat little dummy from ten yards out.
It took about a minute for the Ducali to draw level as deft passes aided in making inroads down the middle, culminating in Cassano wheeling away in celebration following a move that left coach Roberto Donadoni immensely proud.
Keisuke Honda was next to register his name on the scoresheet as his firm header off an Ignazio Abate cross restored the Rossoneri’s advantage on 38 minutes in what was shaping up to be a memorable encounter.
Jeremy Menez was full of relentless running; and it paid dividends on 43 minutes as he won a penalty off an Alessandro Lucarelli challenge and converted it emphatically to introduce some daylight between the teams.
The second half started at a higher pace than the first, and Felipe found the back of the net when Abdelkader Ghezzal’s header set up Crsitobal Jorquera whose miscued volley landed at the defender’s foot to bring the Gialloblu right back in the game.
Bonera added to the drama by seeing red for what the referee adjudged as an intentional handball right at the edge of the box, leaving the visitors in potential disarray.
Just when Parma were beginning to get a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, Cassano committed the error that led to Nigel de Jong’s breakaway and a composed finish that left new boy Fernando Torres smiling in the stands.
On 73 minutes, Lucarelli made amends for conceding the penalty with a thumping header from a corner, highlighting Milan’s defensive profligacies and opening up the contest again.
Mirante then denied Menez a second goal just two minutes later after Sulley Muntari set the Frenchman through, but his electrifying run and thunderous shot ended in a stunning save followed by a crash off the woodwork and out for a corner.
Felipe received his marching orders on 77 minutes for a second yellow to give the game some balance; and Menez soon got the better of Mirante with a candidate for Goal of the Week, defining pace to get past the keeper and then finishing with a cheeky backheel that got his coach running down the touchline in his classic frenzy.
The madness would continue as Diego Lopez lost his bearings and failed to control a harmless back pass from De Sciglio just before the 90th minute, leading to a bizarre own goal and setting up a rapturous finale for the neutrals.
Six minutes of added time then provided some more great action, but the Rossoneri held on against waves of Gialloblu attacks to record a result that will live long in Serie A memory.
