Plucky Palermo dump AC Milan out of Italian Cup
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-01 11:12

AC Milan were dumped out of the Italian Cup by Palermo on Tuesday after suffering a humiliating 3-0 defeat in the second leg of their quarter-final tie.

Mariano Gonzalez scored twice and Andrea Caracciolo grabbed the other goal as Palermo came roaring back from a 1-0 defeat in last week's first leg at the San Siro.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti rested several key players, but his team still boasted such talents as dynamic Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf and Brazil internationals Marcos Cafu and Kaka.

Victory and a place in the semi-finals gave Giuseppe Papadopulo a perfect debut as Palermo coach following his appointment on Sunday.

The former Lazio and Siena coach replaced Luigi Del Neri, who was sacked after Saturday's 3-1 home defeat to Siena.

Following their cup exit, Milan are likely to focus all their attention on the Champions League having fallen 12 points behind leaders Juventus in Serie A.

Ancelotti admitted his team were going through a sticky patch.

"We are having some difficulties, but we'll get over it," he said.

Palermo took just 10 minutes to draw level on aggregate.

AC Milan forward Filippo Inzaghi, left, and Palermo defender Christian Terlizzi challenge for the ball during their Italian Cup soccer match at the Palermo's stadium, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006. [AP]

Milan's defence backpedalled as Gonzalez strode forward and the skilful Argentine midfielder curled a right-footed shot into the top corner from 20 yards.

The Sicilian side went 2-0 up eight minutes later after more poor defending by Milan's backline.

Gonzalez was allowed space to run with the ball and his diagonal pass picked out Caracciolo, who clipped the ball past Australian keeper Zeljko Kalac, handed a rare first-team start in place of Nelson Dida.

Gonzalez extended Palermo's advantage in the 49th minute after a terrible misunderstanding between Milan's defensive pair Alessandro Nesta and Mario Simic, which left the livewire Argentinian with an easy tap-in.

In Wednesday's matches Sampdoria host Udinese with the teams tied at 1-1 after the first leg, and Rome will try and protect their 3-2 lead at home to bitter rivals Juventus.

Inter Milan have the edge over Lazio for Thursday's second leg tie having snatched an away goal in the 1-1 draw in Rome last week.

Last season Inter lifted the trophy after beating Roma 3-0 on aggregate in the two-legged final.

Juventus have lifted the cup the most with nine wins, followed by Roma with seven, Fiorentina with six and AC Milan with five.