LuNo

Kaka To Miss Arsenal Clash? Milan superstar Kaka faces a race against time to be fit for next week’s return match with Arsenal, according to reports in Italy. The European and World Footballer of the Year has been playing with a niggling sensation in his knee for quite some time now, but the problem has worsened in recent weeks. Kaka was forced to rest for a few games leading up to the Champions League last 16 first leg with Arsenal last Wednesday. Having only just returned, the Brazilian received a knock from Roberto Guana in only the second minute of last night’s 2-1 win over Palermo. He tried to run off the injury, but the pain eventually proved too much and he had to be replaced at half-time by Yoann Gourcuff. With only eight days to go until the Champions League second leg with Arsenal at San Siro, Kaka faces a real race against time to be fit. The 25-year-old is almost definitely out of this Wednesday’s trip to Catania in Serie A, while the match with Lazio at the weekend is also looking unlikely. There have been reports in the Italian press that Kaka may eventually require an operation to clear up his persistent knee problem.

IMPORTANT VICTORY "This victory is a starting point because the road is long and there are important opponents. It was important to reach the fourth place, but it's just as important to keep this position." - THE DECLARATIONS - MILAN - Here are the declarations made by the rossoneri after Milan-Palermo 2-1: YOANN GOURCUFF: "It's never easy for Milan when we concede a goal at home, but fortunately tonight we won and we also managed to reach fourth place. The second half was more difficult because we were all attacking while Palermo often went on the counterattack and made themselves dangerous. I knew I was coming on the pitch at the start of the second half, when the medical staff decided that Kaká should come off. I was happy, I came in, I changed my position and I managed to give an important assist for Pippo's goal. I hope that from now on I will play more because there are more matches ahead, and gain more confidence in the way I play so I can try more shots from distance or give important assists. It's always nice to play." FILIPPO INZAGHI: "It was a difficult match and we knew it, fortunately Yoann did well to give the assist and then it went well. At Yokohama I had reached 89 goals with the Milan shirt, I needed just one to reach the 90th goal and make Milan the team I have scored the most goals with in my career. For the first time today we have reached the fourth place and we did it just at the end when everything seemed over, I'm very happy. Last year I scored most of my goals in Europe and I missed scoring in the league, I was stuck at 127 goals for a long while. This goal makes me very happy because when I had found my condition I had an injury to my finger which kept me out for 60 days. I am serene because I am running like I used to do, but my condition can still improve. I've played two matches for 90 minutes and tonight I'm happy to have come in and given my contribution to the team." MASSIMO AMBROSINI: "This victory has to be a starting point because the road is long and there are important opponents. It was important to reach the fourth place, but it's just as important to keep this position. Today's football is very much decided by episodes, and it's too bad that not always the referee's assistants help him properly. When there is a lot of confusion in the area it's not easy for a referee to decide exactly what's going on and that's why I think he should be helped more. Tonight I also managed to score, I have fun going forward and sometimes I also manage to get a goal. In this period we have a lot of matches close together and in the long run the tiredness will make itself felt, the coach is using a lot of different midfielders and we all try to be ready. Now we have two more matches in the league which are not to be underestimated and then the match against Arsenal. I think it will be a nice game, with the crowd on our side, I think it will be one of those nights that Milan are used to." ZELJKO KALAC: "The match went very well, we should have closed it earlier, but the victory is deserved and the three points we won are really important."

IMPORTANT VICTORY "This victory is a starting point because the road is long and there are important opponents. It was important to reach the fourth place, but it's just as important to keep this position." - THE DECLARATIONS - MILAN - Here are the declarations made by the rossoneri after Milan-Palermo 2-1: YOANN GOURCUFF: "It's never easy for Milan when we concede a goal at home, but fortunately tonight we won and we also managed to reach fourth place. The second half was more difficult because we were all attacking while Palermo often went on the counterattack and made themselves dangerous. I knew I was coming on the pitch at the start of the second half, when the medical staff decided that Kaká should come off. I was happy, I came in, I changed my position and I managed to give an important assist for Pippo's goal. I hope that from now on I will play more because there are more matches ahead, and gain more confidence in the way I play so I can try more shots from distance or give important assists. It's always nice to play." FILIPPO INZAGHI: "It was a difficult match and we knew it, fortunately Yoann did well to give the assist and then it went well. At Yokohama I had reached 89 goals with the Milan shirt, I needed just one to reach the 90th goal and make Milan the team I have scored the most goals with in my career. For the first time today we have reached the fourth place and we did it just at the end when everything seemed over, I'm very happy. Last year I scored most of my goals in Europe and I missed scoring in the league, I was stuck at 127 goals for a long while. This goal makes me very happy because when I had found my condition I had an injury to my finger which kept me out for 60 days. I am serene because I am running like I used to do, but my condition can still improve. I've played two matches for 90 minutes and tonight I'm happy to have come in and given my contribution to the team." MASSIMO AMBROSINI: "This victory has to be a starting point because the road is long and there are important opponents. It was important to reach the fourth place, but it's just as important to keep this position. Today's football is very much decided by episodes, and it's too bad that not always the referee's assistants help him properly. When there is a lot of confusion in the area it's not easy for a referee to decide exactly what's going on and that's why I think he should be helped more. Tonight I also managed to score, I have fun going forward and sometimes I also manage to get a goal. In this period we have a lot of matches close together and in the long run the tiredness will make itself felt, the coach is using a lot of different midfielders and we all try to be ready. Now we have two more matches in the league which are not to be underestimated and then the match against Arsenal. I think it will be a nice game, with the crowd on our side, I think it will be one of those nights that Milan are used to." ZELJKO KALAC: "The match went very well, we should have closed it earlier, but the victory is deserved and the three points we won are really important."

AC Milan 2:1 Palermo - match report Scorers: Bresciano 9 (P), Ambrosini 24 (M), Inzaghi 91 (M) Pippo Inzaghi's first Serie A goal in over a year defeated Palermo in stoppages and put them on a par with Fiorentina in fourth place, but both sides complained about the referee. The Rossoneri needed a victory to keep up with fourth-placed Fiorentina, while Sicilian boss Francesco Guidolin was on thin ice despite a hard-fought 2-1 win over Cagliari. Clarence Seedorf and Paolo Maldini were rested after the 0-0 with Arsenal midweek, but Palermo welcomed back Amauri, Fabrizio Miccoli and Roberto Guana from suspension, though the former Juventus star was only fit for the bench. The Rosanero had a good record here with a 3-3 draw in 2005 that lost Milan the Scudetto and a shock 2-0 victory last term. They had also beaten Carlo Ancelotti's men at the Barbera earlier this season. Palermo took the lead thanks to some confused defending just nine minutes in. Mark Bresciano volleyed a Guana cross from the left and it took a deflection off Massimo Oddo's chest to leave Zeljko Kalac stranded. Amauri went on a slalom including some fancy footwork with his heel, like a rabona mid-sprint, but was eventually closed down by Daniele Bonera. Milan wanted a penalty moments later when Alberto Gilardino's flicked ball struck Andrea Barzagli's arm, but the linesman insisted it was involuntary, as it came off his chest first and ricocheted. Alberto Fontana smothered a cracking Kaka piledriver and was very fortunate as it bounced off the ground and got trapped under his body. The Rossoneri drew level on 24 minutes with captain Massimo Ambrosini. Oddo's sweeping cross to the back post found Ambrosini totally unmarked for a sliding finish, as he had lost marker Cassani. Pirlo curled one of his trademark free kicks from 25 metres under the bar, bringing a fantastic one-handed save out of 41-year-old Fontana. Moments later the veteran tipped another Pirlo set-piece out for a corner. Kaka rolled across for the onrushing Ambrosini, halted by a crucial tackle on the edge of the area. Towards half-time it was turning into a siege on the Sicilian goal and a corner fell kindly for Marek Jankulovski to balloon over. Ambrosini nodded a Pirlo free kick just over the bar, as the midfielder remained Milan's most dangerous attacking figure. Kaka got a knock to the knee, so made way for Yoann Gourcuff at half-time. Kakha Kaladze did well to stand by substitute Fabio Simplicio and protect the ball for Kalac as the Brazilian ran into the box. Pato skipped past Giuseppe Biava with a splendid nutmeg and his deflected snapshot was palmed round the post by the ever-attentive Fontana. From the resulting corner Kaladze complained of a Guana handling offence that took the ball off his foot as he was lining up the volley. It looked like an evident penalty, but the referee and linesman ignored his protests. Yet Palermo risked restoring their lead when Simplicio's free kick went past everyone, Kalac getting a hand to it before the ball could settle into the far bottom corner. Edison Cavani found himself in acres of space on Guana's through ball, but blasted over the bar with only Kalac to beat. Pippo Inzaghi replaced the disappointing Gilardino, but Cavani found another gap in the Rossoneri defence and hesitated, wasting the opportunity. Inzaghi was angry when he was lining up a header, but teammate Gourcuff clattered into him. SuperPippo was also halted for an incorrect offside decision and Barzagli did just enough to keep Inzaghi from turning in a Biava error. This time it was Palermo who had furious penalty appeals in the final minute, as Amauri ran into the area and nutmegged Gennaro Gattuso to fall over the outstretched leg, but once again the referee and linesman waved play on. It's a decision that is bound to cause controversy, as moments later Inzaghi gave Milan the victory. He was left completely unmarked for a free header from six yards on Gourcuff's cross from the left, springing the offside trap. It was his first Serie A goal in over a year. Milan: Kalac; Oddo, Bonera, Kaladze, Jankulovski (Favalli 85); Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Kaka (Gourcuff 46); Gilardino (Inzaghi 73), Pato Palermo: Fontana; Zaccardo, Barzagli, Biava; Cassani, Guana, Migliaccio, Bresciano (Simplicio 54), Balzaretti; Cavani (Tedesco 88), Amauri

AC Milan 2:1 Palermo - match report Scorers: Bresciano 9 (P), Ambrosini 24 (M), Inzaghi 91 (M) Pippo Inzaghi's first Serie A goal in over a year defeated Palermo in stoppages and put them on a par with Fiorentina in fourth place, but both sides complained about the referee. The Rossoneri needed a victory to keep up with fourth-placed Fiorentina, while Sicilian boss Francesco Guidolin was on thin ice despite a hard-fought 2-1 win over Cagliari. Clarence Seedorf and Paolo Maldini were rested after the 0-0 with Arsenal midweek, but Palermo welcomed back Amauri, Fabrizio Miccoli and Roberto Guana from suspension, though the former Juventus star was only fit for the bench. The Rosanero had a good record here with a 3-3 draw in 2005 that lost Milan the Scudetto and a shock 2-0 victory last term. They had also beaten Carlo Ancelotti's men at the Barbera earlier this season. Palermo took the lead thanks to some confused defending just nine minutes in. Mark Bresciano volleyed a Guana cross from the left and it took a deflection off Massimo Oddo's chest to leave Zeljko Kalac stranded. Amauri went on a slalom including some fancy footwork with his heel, like a rabona mid-sprint, but was eventually closed down by Daniele Bonera. Milan wanted a penalty moments later when Alberto Gilardino's flicked ball struck Andrea Barzagli's arm, but the linesman insisted it was involuntary, as it came off his chest first and ricocheted. Alberto Fontana smothered a cracking Kaka piledriver and was very fortunate as it bounced off the ground and got trapped under his body. The Rossoneri drew level on 24 minutes with captain Massimo Ambrosini. Oddo's sweeping cross to the back post found Ambrosini totally unmarked for a sliding finish, as he had lost marker Cassani. Pirlo curled one of his trademark free kicks from 25 metres under the bar, bringing a fantastic one-handed save out of 41-year-old Fontana. Moments later the veteran tipped another Pirlo set-piece out for a corner. Kaka rolled across for the onrushing Ambrosini, halted by a crucial tackle on the edge of the area. Towards half-time it was turning into a siege on the Sicilian goal and a corner fell kindly for Marek Jankulovski to balloon over. Ambrosini nodded a Pirlo free kick just over the bar, as the midfielder remained Milan's most dangerous attacking figure. Kaka got a knock to the knee, so made way for Yoann Gourcuff at half-time. Kakha Kaladze did well to stand by substitute Fabio Simplicio and protect the ball for Kalac as the Brazilian ran into the box. Pato skipped past Giuseppe Biava with a splendid nutmeg and his deflected snapshot was palmed round the post by the ever-attentive Fontana. From the resulting corner Kaladze complained of a Guana handling offence that took the ball off his foot as he was lining up the volley. It looked like an evident penalty, but the referee and linesman ignored his protests. Yet Palermo risked restoring their lead when Simplicio's free kick went past everyone, Kalac getting a hand to it before the ball could settle into the far bottom corner. Edison Cavani found himself in acres of space on Guana's through ball, but blasted over the bar with only Kalac to beat. Pippo Inzaghi replaced the disappointing Gilardino, but Cavani found another gap in the Rossoneri defence and hesitated, wasting the opportunity. Inzaghi was angry when he was lining up a header, but teammate Gourcuff clattered into him. SuperPippo was also halted for an incorrect offside decision and Barzagli did just enough to keep Inzaghi from turning in a Biava error. This time it was Palermo who had furious penalty appeals in the final minute, as Amauri ran into the area and nutmegged Gennaro Gattuso to fall over the outstretched leg, but once again the referee and linesman waved play on. It's a decision that is bound to cause controversy, as moments later Inzaghi gave Milan the victory. He was left completely unmarked for a free header from six yards on Gourcuff's cross from the left, springing the offside trap. It was his first Serie A goal in over a year. Milan: Kalac; Oddo, Bonera, Kaladze, Jankulovski (Favalli 85); Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Kaka (Gourcuff 46); Gilardino (Inzaghi 73), Pato Palermo: Fontana; Zaccardo, Barzagli, Biava; Cassani, Guana, Migliaccio, Bresciano (Simplicio 54), Balzaretti; Cavani (Tedesco 88), Amauri

Thank you very much Sandy