Palermo vs. AC Milan: Winners and Losers from Serie a
AC Milan easily defeated Palermo 2-0 on Wednesday at the Stadio Renzo Barbera to earn their 11th victory of the Serie A season.
Carlos Bacca opened the scoring in the 19th minute, while M'Baye Niang contributed a strike of his own from the spot in the 33rd minute.
The victory kept Milan two points beneath Roma in the race for fifth place in Serie A and extended the club's unbeaten run to five contests.
The defeat was the third in six games for Palermo and kept them six points above the relegation zone in 15th place.
Here's a look at our winners and losers from AC Milan's win over Palermo.
Winner: Carlos Bacca
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Carlos Bacca continued his hot run of form as he extended his scoring streak to five games with his 19th-minute strike.
The Colombian cut in front of Aljaz Struna, latched on to a pass from Ignazio Abate and struck from close range to put the Rossoneri ahead by a goal.
The goal was the 12th league tally of the season for Bacca on his 23rd shot on target, per Squawka, and his eighth in his last 10 games. During the streak, Bacca has not had any multiple-goal performances.
If Bacca continues to thrive up top for Milan, their hunt for the top five will put pressure on the teams above them in the Serie A table and may cause Roma or Inter Milan to unexpectedly slip up.
Loser: Aljaz Struna
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Bacca was able to get open in the penalty area in the 19th minute because Aljaz Struna failed to track his run in front of goal.
When Abate's cross started to fly into the box, Bacca got the best of Struna and cut in front of the Palermo defender before scoring the first goal of the contest.
Struna's poor marking was one of two defensive lapses that cost Palermo a positive result in front of their home fans on Wednesday night.
The brutal defending by the Palermo back four kept Giovanni Tedesco's side in the bottom half of the table. Luckily for Palermo, they are not close to dropping into the relegation zone due to the poor form of Frosinone, Carpi and Verona.
Winner: M'Baye Niang
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M'Baye Niang followed up his strong performance against Inter Milan with a goal from the spot in Wednesday's victory over Palermo.
Niang, who set Bacca up for his goal with a nice dummy on the right side of the box, thumped a shot from the spot into the back of the net in the 33rd minute.
The 21-year-old continued to make an impact on the match as he attempted a team high of four shots, per WhoScored, as Milan chased a third tally.
If Niang parlays his form from the last two matches into the rest of the season, he could take some of the pressure off the shoulders of Bacca in the chase for the European places.
Loser: Edoardo Goldaniga
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Edoardo Goldaniga added to the list of defensive mistakes made by Palermo players in the first half as he conceded a penalty in the 32nd minute.
The 22-year-old Italian opted to control the ball with his hand in space instead of bringing it down with his body. Instead of easily clearing the latest AC Milan threat, Goldaniga handed the visitors a golden opportunity to extend their lead.
Goldaniga's handball took all the energy out of the Palermo squad and gave AC Milan plenty of momentum to continue to attack the net for the rest of the match.
The only way Palermo can build on Wednesday's defeat is if they learn from their mistakes and don't do anything stupid in the upcoming clashes with Sassuolo and Roma. If they play solid defensive football for 90 minutes in those games, Palermo may earn an upset and move up the table a bit.
Winner: Giacomo Bonaventura
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Giacomo Bonaventura was relentless in attack for AC Milan in the 2-0 victory at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.
Bonaventura recorded the most touches of any AC Milan player with 99 and completed 94 percent of his 83 passes, per WhoScored.
The control displayed by the 26-year-old midfielder helped the Rossoneri dictate the pace of the game and keep Palermo from putting together sustained spells of attacking football.
If Bonaventura and the other players in the AC Milan starting 11 benefit from their recent form in their next two games against Udinese and Genoa, they could head into their February 22 clash with Napoli in fantastic form.
