Milan struggling in Serie A

Last weekend, Inter and Palermo continued to fly high at the summit of the Serie A standings. Both sides won comfortably at home to remain level on points, giving an early indication that Francesco Guidolin's Palermo will be Inter's greatest antagonists this season.

Milan continued to lose further ground. On Sunday, they went down to Atalanta for their third defeat in their last four outings. Milan are 17 points adrift of the two front-runners.

With just over a quarter of the season gone, Milan look already out of contention for the scudetto. The likelihood is that now they will focus much of their energy on the Champions League and a place in Europe next season.

These last couple of weeks were turbulent ones for Milan.

First, they were soundly beaten at home by Palermo. Then, a sour defeat in the derby against Inter was preceded by the confirmation that no points, from the eight originally deducted, were being given back to Carlo Ancelotti's side. Their only consolation victories came against Chievo, in the Serie A, and Anderlecht, in Europe.

In their recent outings Milan have shown little appetite for success.

True, on Sunday, they were left to rue two bad decisions taken by referee Tiziano Pieri but it is equally true that they were a far cry from the side that a year ago battled with Juve for the league title.

Milan contend that this season referees are being harsh on them and a series of bad decisions resulted in crucial points being dropped. However, it is not justifiable for Milan to attribute their stuttering start to referees. Problems are more deep-rooted than that.

Andriy Shevchenko was the side's main striker for the past seven years. The Ukrainian solved many a problem for Milan up front all by himself. When Shevchenko made up his mind to move to Chelsea last May, Milan deemed it fit not to replace him with another top striker. Filippo Inzaghi and Alberto Gilardino are preferred in attack with Marco Borriello and Ricardo Oliveira the only back-up strikers in the squad.

Without Shevchenko, Milan's attack looks blunt. Last summer, many expected the club to invest in a top-notch striker to partner Gilardino and utilise Inzaghi, 33, as back-up. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Hernan Crespo and Ruud van Nistelrooy were available on the transfer market. The first two were snapped up by Inter.

At some stage, all three were being tipped to join Milan but, instead, Milan moved for 26-year-old Brazilian Oliveira.

So far, the ex-Real Betis forward has only managed one goal in 11 appearances.

Milan's ageing defence is another worrying aspect.

Former U-21 international Daniele Bonera and the seasoned Giuseppe Favalli were the club's only signings to bolster a rearguard that includes the likes of Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta and injury-prone Alessandro Nesta.

The figures are there for all to see... Milan have a meagre average of a goal per game in Serie A this season.

And even their defence is not what it used to be as they have already conceded 10 goals.

The Rossoneri have gone silent this season for a number of reasons but mainly because they did not get the players they needed to keep up with the progress of recent years, and, more importantly, to remain competitive when compared to Inter, now the prime favourites to 'retain' the crown of champions.

Serie A statistics

1st positive result for Messina in three Serie A visits to Turin. Last weekend, Messina shared the spoils with Torino to interrupt a negative run of two away defeats (vs Siena 1-3 and Palermo 1-2). Although Torino made most of the running, Messina still managed to create a number of decent scoring chances. In the end, a draw was a fair result. Alberto Zaccheroni's Torino have now collected three draws in their last four outings. Roma were in a class of their own as they came from a goal down to beat Fiorentina 3-1 at the Olympic Stadium. This was Roma's fourth victory in their last five home encounters with Fiorentina. Fiorentina's most recent win in the capital dates back to February 23, 1992 (3-1).

2nd successive defeat for Udinese, who after losing 0-1 to Roma at home, were floored by Livorno for the first time in three visits to the Armando Picchi stadium. Livorno won it thanks to their determination to stay in the highest quarters of the table. Together with Inter, Atalanta and Catania, Livorno are still undefeated in home fixtures. Parma were seconds away from interrupting Siena's positive streak as they built a seemingly unassailable 2-0 lead in Tuscany. But two Erjon Bogdani goals inside the last 15 minutes salvaged a precious point for Mario Beretta's side. With this draw, Siena have now extended their unbeaten league streak to eight games (three wins and five draws).

3rd defeat for Milan in their last four league outings as they were unexpectedly floored by in-form Atalanta in an action-packed match characterised by some controversial decisions taken by referee Tiziano Pieri. Once again, Milan were not up to their best though. Atalanta had more possession and went ahead seven minutes into the second half thanks to back-in-form Nicola Ventola. Although Milan made a reaction to come from behind, they were never convincing. Atalanta resisted solidly and deep into stoppage time Andrea Soncin doubled their lead to remain in fourth place, level on points with Siena and Livorno.

4th straight win for Palermo as the Sicilians edged Sampdoria by two clear goals. Palermo's fourth success in their opening five home league outings this season was never in jeopardy as they dominated from start to finish. Walter Novellino's Samp were pegged back in their own half and were of no threat to the Palermo goal. Thanks to this win, Palermo remained on top of the standings level on points with Inter. The Nerazzurri recorded an identical 2-0 home win over Ascoli. This was Inter's third straight win in their last three home league meetings with Ascoli. Over 25 years have passed since Ascoli's last of three wins in 16 Serie A visits to the Meazza stadium. Ascoli and Chievo are still searching for their first win of the term whereas Inter are the only top division side still undefeated.

5 winless games in a row (three draws and two defeats) have hindered Lazio's progress towards the top quarters of the standings. On Sunday, Gordan Pandev gave Delio Rossi's side a head start against Empoli. After the change of ends, the game became increasingly nervous until Empoli were reduced to nine men and Lazio 10. When Lazio seemed well on their way to record their second straight win against Empoli, Igli Vannucchi grabbed a last-gasp equaliser for Gigi Cagni's side to help them collect their fourth straight draw.

6 players - Marco Zanchi (Messina), Christian Terlizzi (Sampdoria), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Fabrizio Ficini, Mirco Gasparetto (both Empoli) and Sanchez Cribari (Lazio) - received marching orders. Only one penalty was awarded by referees. Ascoli's Michele Fini saw his shot from the spot saved by Inter's no.1 Julio Cesar. Walter Novellino's Samp have had the highest number of penalties against - four (all scored). Fiorentina, Milan and Udinese are still without a penalty against this season. So far, Palermo have improved their tally by eight points compared to last season. Chievo collected 13 points less than they had after 10 days in 2005/06.

20 goals were scored on the 10th day: 14 coming from the hosts and the remaining six from the visitors, who managed only one victory. Foreigners contributed with 10 goals while there were seven first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 241. Two players - Erjon Bogdani (Siena) and Rodrigo Taddei (Roma) - grabbed a brace each. No hat-tricks were registered. Mirko Cudini committed the only own goal of the day that enabled joint-leaders Inter to double their lead against Ascoli. Andrea Soncin (Atalanta) and Ibrahima Bakayoko (Livorno) came on as substitutes and found the net. Despite not being on the scorers' sheet, Christian Riganò, of Messina, still leads the scorers' list with seven goals. Palermo have the most prolific attack with 23 goals whereas Ascoli, with just five goals, have the worst attack in the division.