Palermo stun Milan to reach final

Palermo kept their dream of a first-ever piece of silverware alive by beating champions Milan yester-day to reach the Coppa Italia final.

Giulio Migliaccio and a Cesare Bovo penalty gave the Sicilians a 2-1 win on the night in the semi-final, second leg and 4-3 aggregate success following a 2-2 draw at the San Siro three weeks ago.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled a goal back deep into injury time.

Palermo will face either Inter or Roma in the final on May 29.

Both sides finished with 10 men after the game exploded into life in a combustible second period.

In a tight first half of few chances, Robinho wasted a glorious early opportunity when left all alone only to shoot over on three minutes.

Palermo started to up the ante and took the lead on 63 minutes when Migliaccio made a run into the box to plant a diving header into the bottom corner.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri responded by bringing on Ibrahimovic but their hopes suffered a blow 17 minutes from time when Mark van Bommel was sent off for bringing down Josip Ilicic in the box. Bovo made no mistake from the spot.

Palermo needed only to see out the remaining time but Bovo immediately wiped out their numerical advantage by getting himself sent off for a foul on Pato.

Allegri then threw on Antonio Cassano and played four up front. And they were given a late lifeline when Ibrahimovic clipped home four minutes into injury time but it was too little, too late.