Jeremy Menez scored twice and both sides had a man sent off as AC Milan held off Parma a handful of occasions before being able to finally come away from the Ennio Tardini Stadium with a dramatic 5-4 victory in a Serie A match on Sunday.
The win maintained Filippo Inzaghi’s perfect start in league football management at Milan, with the Rossoneri now in top spot with six points from two matches ahead of Juventus and AS Roma by virtue of goals scored.
Giancomo Bonaventura gave Milan the lead midway through the first half on his debut but his joy and that of Milan was short-lived as former player Antonio Cassano levelled for Parma with a header two minutes later.
Goals by Japan international Keisuke Honda with a header and French midfielder Jeremy Menez with a penalty he earned on the stroke of half-time however gave Milan a two-goal cushion going into the break.
Parma were back in the match eight minutes into the second half however as Felipe struck from close range And the home side’s hopes of completing a comeback were raised following the sending off of Milan defender Bonera for a second bookable offence just before the hour mark.
Those hopes were squashed in the 68th minute courtesy of Nigel de Jong who restored Milan’s two-goal lead after dispossessing Cassano in midfield before bearing down on goal and sliding in a finish.
The home side however pulled a goal back to make it 4-3 with 17 minutes to play when captain Alessandro Lucarelli headed in a cornerkick, only for Felipe to get sent off three minutes later for a foul on Menez.
Menez then reopened Milan’s two-goal lead again in the 79th minute with a back-heeled goal before a bizarre moment with two minutes left to play gave Parma a way back into the encounter, as Milan goalkeeper Diego Lopez failed to control Mattia de Sciglio’s backpass which rolled into the Milan goal.
Lopez also pulled a muscle in the process of missing de Sciglio’s back-pass but had to see the match out despite the injury as Milan had used all three substitutions, with Parma failing to find a way back this time as Milan held on for a dramatic win.