AC Milan held by lowly Pescara as Crotone keep survival hopes alive

Mario Pasalic

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AC Milan needed a Mario Pasalic equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw with bottom of the table Pescara on the east coast.

Gabriel Paletta scored an early own goal when his wayward bouncing backpass eluded goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s attempts to control it and found the corner of the net.

But Pescara were denied a famous win when Pasalic struck after 41 minutes.

Strugglers Crotone maintained a glimmer of hope that they could yet secure Serie A survival after beating Chievo 2-1 in Verona.

The promoted club were in 19th place with only 14 points heading into Sunday’s match, but a Diego Falcinelli winner lifted them to within five points of safety with eight games remaining.

Crotone took the lead through Gian Marco Ferrari six minutes after the break and, after Sergio Pellissier had levelled, Falcinelli clinched victory in the 82nd minute.

Palermo were determined to close the seven-point gap on 17th-placed Empoli but remain in dire straits following a 3-1 loss to Cagliari.

Diego Lopez’s men took the lead through Giancarlo Gonzalez in the 26th minute, but the visitors turned it around with a second-half brace from Artur Ionita and Marco Borriello’s 14th league goal of the season.

Genoa, 12 points clear of the drop zone, look likely to avoid relegation — but a 5-0 home hammering by Atalanta did little to appease their unhappy fans.

Alejandro Gomez was the key man for upwardly-mobile Atalanta, who are up to fifth at the expense of Inter Milan. He grabbed a hat trick after Andrea Conti opened the scoring and Mauricio Pinilla was sent off for Genoa.

Italy Under-21 defender Mattia Caldara, who is owned by Juventus, was also on target.
Emiliano Moretti and Andrea Belotti scored late goals as Torino snatched a 2-2 draw with Udinese.

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The hosts looked set to slide to their second defeat in three games when Jakub Jankto opened the scoring with a powerful 49th-minute drive.

Stipe Perica doubled Udinese’s lead from close range in the 69th minute before Moretti struck in the 70th minute and Belotti grabbed the equaliser with seven minutes to go.

Eighth-placed Fiorentina sustained their bid for Europa League football as substitute Khouma Babacar clinched a 1-0 win against Bologna.