Palermo Beats Serie A Leaders AC Milan 1-0

Just when fans of AC Milan, the Italian football club leading the way in the Serie A standings, could do no wrong, they were beaten 1-0 by Palermo, a team that should have stood no chance against the Milanese side on paper.

Perhaps it was complacency, perhaps Palermo was just too good on the day. But whatever caused the huge upset on Saturday sent shockwaves across Italy, because AC Milan's loss reduced the difference between them and second place side and fierce rivals Inter Milan to a mere two points, while Napoli is only one point behind Inter Milan with 59 points.

What this means is that 2010/11 Serie A championship is still very much up-for-grabs with enough games still to play that any of these three Italian sides could win the title. Serie A betting fans who have high hopes in AC Milan to win the league must have been especially shaken at Saturday's shock result.

When the match got underway at Palermo's Renzo Barbera Stadium, it soon became clear that the home team had absolutely no intention of rolling over for their highly-ranked visitors, as barely 10 minutes in, Palermo's talented Romanian centre back Dorin Goian saw a gap in AC Milan's defense and proceeded to put his side 1-0 up.

For the remainder of the game's 80 plus minutes, try as they did, AC Milan failed to produce an equalizer, which is why they walked off the pitch looking forlorn, especially as they were serenaded by a blast of boos from their decidedly disappointed fans. However, excuses for AC Milan's unexpected loss were being brewed thick and fast.

One was that the team was without its Swedish star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was benched because of a three-game suspension he picked up last week for striking Marco Rossi in the chest in an off-the-ball incident during AC Milan's match against Bari.

Another was the absence (for the most part) of three AC Milan players - Kevin Prince Boateng, Alexander Merkel and Urby Emanuelson - who were spotted partying the night before the Palermo game, in direct violation with the club's code of conduct and rules.

As a result, Merkel and Emanuelson were benched for the entire match, while Boateng was only brought on briefly as a substitute. But whatever the reason for AC Milan's loss, you can bet they'll pull their socks up for their next game.

Here are the complete Serie A results from the weekend: