Serie A newcomer Bologna pulled off a surprising 2-1 win over AC Milan at the San Siro on Sunday as Francesco Valiani scored with 11 minutes to play to hand his team all three points.

Marco Di Vaio gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute, but Milan was level before the break courtesy of a Massimo Ambrosini header. However, Bologna pulled off the upset when Valiani smashed a shot into the upper left corner from 25 yards.

Milan controlled almost all of the first half, but it was Bologna that grabbed a surprise opener.

Cristian Zenoni got the ball on the right wing and played it to Christian Amoroso at the top of the box. He then dropped the ball into the path of Di Vaio with his first touch, allowing the striker to smack a left-footed shot inside the far post.

Milan was not rattled by the goal, however, and they went back on the attack. Ronaldinho hit a close-range header right at Bologna goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli before setting up Filippo Inzaghi for a shot that he hit into the side of the net after rounding the keeper.

The equalizer came four minutes before halftime when Ronaldinho got the ball on the left and delivered a good cross to the front of goal for Ambrosini, who rose up and headed the ball home from six yards.

Andriy Shevchenko came on in the second half for Milan and he nearly put them ahead in the 55th minute. Ronaldinho got into the box on the left, danced around two defenders, and slipped a pass to Shevchenko at the back post, only for Antonioli to come off his line and make a good stop.

The home side was on the attack, but Bologna seized an unlikely lead with 11 minutes to play on a goal that came from nothing.

Bologna was on the counter attack but the team lost possession in the Milan final third. However, Valiani picked up a loose ball 30 yards from goal, took a touch, and curled a brilliant shot into the upper left corner of the net off the fingertips of Milan keeper Christian Abbiati.

The visitors then defended well to hold off the hard-charging Rossoneri over the remainder of the match.

After finishing second last season, Roma's campaign didn't start as planned either, with the team being held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli, while Torino handed newly-promoted Lecce a 3-0 defeat.

Lazio scored four times in the second half, including two from Mauro Zarate, to beat Cagliari 4-1, Atalanta slipped past Siena 1-0 on a goal from Simone Padoin, Vincenzo Italiano scored in the 88th minute to give Chievo a 2-1 win against Reggina and Catania earned a 1-0 win over Genoa on a second-half strike from Giuseppe Mascara.

In Sunday's late game, Alberto Gilardino scored in the 89th minute as 10-man Fiorentina tied Juventus 1-1. Juventus grabbed the lead in the 39th minute on goal from Pavel Nedved, but Fiorentina eventually answered minutes after Felipe Melo was sent off.

Alexandre PATO - The New Star of Milan

Pato Hopeful Of Ronaldo Return

Milan’s Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato would love to play alongside Ronaldo next term, despite Il Fenomeno’s injury woes.

Ronaldo, 31, is currently recovering from the knee injury which he suffered against Livorno earlier this season.

Il Fenomeno’s career hangs in the balance as the injury to his right knee could still be career-threatening. And although his recovery is going well so far, his recent altercation with three transvestite prostitutes in his native Brazil has done his legendary status no good whatsoever.

However, possible legend in the making, compatriot and team-mate Pato is hoping to play alongside his childhood hero once more.

“I would like it a lot if we could play together,” Pato, 17, told GQ magazine.

“We are really good friends.

“Ronnie is going through a rough patch at the moment. The media are always hounding him.

“Nevertheless, he has such a great character that I expect he will get over his injury and image problems.

“We talk all the time, but never about football. He always asks me how I am doing. It's crazy, Ronaldo is my idol.”

The teenage sensation also shared his opinion on the Italian game and it seems as if he had to learn fast the hard way.

“I remember Cristian Ledesma repeatedly hitting me - massacring me. I was not bothered. Actually, I like playing this way. It has made me grow up,” said Pato

“In Brazil, you get the ball and are allowed 20 seconds to look up and think about what you are going to do.

“Here, instead, you have three seconds to do something before someone like Ledesma arrives.”

Pato scored nine goals in 18 games for Milan this season and in that explosive form he is sure to be one of the best in future if he continues working hard at San Siro.

Livorno 1 - 4 Milan

Scorers: Inzaghi 23, 51, 59 (M), Seedorf 71 (M), Knezevic 73 (L)

Pippo Inzaghi grabbed a hat-trick for his eighth goal in the last four games, closing to within two points of Fiorentina in fourth!

Two important races crossed paths at the Stadio Picchi, as the Rossoneri were within four points of a Champions League spot and the Amaranto were propping up the table alongside Reggina and Empoli. Livorno held Milan to a 1-1 draw at San Siro in February, the game in which Ronaldo snapped the tendon in his knee.

Alessandro Diamanti got a starting spot after his brilliant free kick blocked Roma last week, but Luis Vigidal was still sidelined and Marco Amelia pulled out in the warm-up. Carlo Ancelotti missed Ronaldo, Paolo Maldini, Emerson, Marcos Cafu, Dario Simic, Nelson Dida and Serginho, but Marek Jankulovski was back on the bench.

Pippo Inzaghi just failed to get on the end of a Kaka cross from the left in the opening 60 seconds, while Clarence Seedorf flashed a right-foot shot across the face of goal.

Milan took the lead with a well-worked move, as Kaka sprung the offside trap and rolled across for Inzaghi to tap in from six yards. However, there was more than a suspicion of offside, as it is not clear whether he was behind the line of the ball.

Alfonso De Lucia parried a Massimo Ambrosini header and Kaka drilled well wide, but Livorno finally had their first chance on the stroke of half-time with Grandoni's cross-shot.

Inzaghi doubled the advantage with his seventh goal in four games, a precise glancing header from Daniele Bonera's cross from the right.

SuperPippo continued his incredible form with a hat-trick, a precise header from an Andrea Pirlo corner kick at the near post.

Inzaghi completed his man of the match performance with an assist for Seedorf to go past two defenders in the centre and blast it past De Lucia.

Livorno got one back with a Dario Knezevic diving header from a corner kick. Massimo Oddo made his comeback after surgery to replace Alessandro Nesta, ensuring the central defender did not get a booking that would rule him out of the derby.

Livorno: De Lucia; Melara, Grandoni, Knezevic, Galante, Pasquale; Pulzetti, A Filippini (De Vezze 55), Bergvold (Balleri 67); Diamanti; Tavano (Tristan 55)

Milan: Kalac; Bonera, Nesta (Oddo 69), Kaladze, Favalli (Jankulovski 73); Gattuso (Brocchi 61), Pirlo, Ambrosini; Kaka, Seedorf; Inzaghi

From :www.acmilan-online.com

Alexandre Pato Wallpapers 2008

Thank : www.football-wallpapers.com

Pato scores against Sweden

Alexandre Pato scored against Sweden on his international debut with a lob over the keeper. Shaaban the Swedish keeper ran out to clear the ball but passed it straight to Pato who sent a curling lob through a tight angle giving Brazil the lead.

”It was a great goal, with the technical quality,” Brazil coach Dunga said. “It was his first (international) goal and it’s always good. It builds his confidence.”

This will give Pato and Brazil confidence in the youngster and I’m sure in the coming months Pato will be a starter. Today he came off the bench at the 60th minute and scored 12 minutes later.

It was a good result for Brazil considering they did not have Ronaldinho and Kaka.

Brazil - Sweden 1-0 Highlights

Teenager Alexandre Pato marked his international debut with an astonishing opportunist goal to give Brazil a 1-0 win over Sweden in a friendly at the Emirates Stadium.

The 72nd-minute strike was the one fitting moment of a match marking the 50th anniversary of Brazil's victory over Sweden in the 1958 World Cup final in Stockholm for the first of their five titles.

The 18-year-old chased Rami Shaaban towards the right touchline as the substitute goalkeeper looked set for an easy clearance and contrived to block it, swivel and send an exquisite left-footed lob into the unguarded net.

Starting keeper Andreas Isaksson had earlier made two saves in quick succession from Julio Baptista and Luis Fabiano, while Internazionale keeper Julio Cesar went down low to save Johan Elmander's downward header from a cross from the right.

Sweden were close again early in the second half with Julio Cesar diving to push out Sebastian Larsson's free kick from the left and the ball being cleared off the Brazil line from a corner a minute later.

Brazil playmaker Diego, put through by Pato just past the hour, had his legs clipped by substitute Mikael Dorsin inside the box as he went for goal but demands for a penalty were turned down.

Julio Cesar made a late point-blank save from Rosenberg who should have done better than shoot straight at the keeper as Sweden looked for an equaliser.

Coach Dunga's Brazil have now won two and lost one of their three friendlies at the Emirates after a victory over Argentina in 2006 and a loss to Portugal last year. They also beat Wales at White Hart Lane in 2006.

Torino 0 - 1 AC Milan Video Highlights