Aussie Bresciano fires Palermo to top in Italy

AC Milan's middfielder Gennaro Gattuso (R) fights for the ball with Palermo's middfielder Mark Bresciano during Italian serie A football match at Milan's San Siro stadium. Palermo won 2-0.

Australian international Mark Bresciano scored one of the goals which gave Palermo a 2-0 victory at AC Milan and a share of the lead in Italy.

The win was the Sicilian side's first at the San Siro and gave them 15 points from seven games, the same as title favourites Inter Milan who could only draw 0-0 at Udinese.

Bresciano opened the scoring four minutes after the break when he beat a sluggish Alessandro Nesta to the ball to score into the corner.

Milan then hit the woodwork twice in quick succession with Kaka and then Andrea Pirlo left cursing their luck.

Palermo made the most of their good fortune by grabbing a second goal against the run of play in the 74th minute when Brazilian striker Amauri reacted well when Dida spilled a fierce Bresciano drive.

It was Milan's first defeat of the season and left them down in 14th place with just four points having started the season with an eight-point penalty for their role in the country's match-fixing scandal.

Earlier Sunday, Inter drew 0-0 at Udinese.

Both sides had a chance to claim the three points in the second half.

Udinese keeper Morgan De Sanctis saved Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goalbound shot with his legs, and seconds later Vincenzo Iaquinta rolled an angled shot wide for the home side with just Julio Cesar to beat.

A third draw in their seven league matches played left Inter on 15 points, two ahead of third-placed Roma who drew 1-1 at home to Chievo.

Inter coach Roberto Mancini thought his side deserved victory.

"In the first half the players looked as if they were feeling the effects of Wednesday's Champions league match and they weren't brilliant," he told Italy's Sky Sports.

Inter Milan's forward Julio Cruz (R) fights for the ball with Udinese's defender Damiano Zenoni. The match ended in a 0-0 draw.

"But they were great in the second half and all that was missing was the goal. We could have taken all three points."

Sergio Pellissier put Chievo ahead at the Olympic stadium, before Francesco Totti equalised with his first goal of the season.

Udinese are tied on 12 points with Atalanta, who fought back from two goals down at half time to win 3-2 at home to Sampdoria, and Livorno, held to a 0-0 draw at home to Siena.

Livorno captain Cristiano Lucarelli had a goal ruled out for offside late in the second half. The point Siena gained made up for the one they had deducted earlier this week for their failure to make an income tax payment on time.

Parma won for the first time this season, edging Ascoli 1-0 thanks to Igor Budan's early goal.

The match between Fiorentina against Reggina - who were both found guilty of match-fixing and had to start on minus 19 and minus 15 points respectively - ended in a comprehensive 3-0 win for the Florence club.

Adrian Mutu, Mario Santana and Manuele Blasi scored Fiorentina's goals in a one-sided contest.

Catania won 3-1 against Lazio despite playing behind closed doors at a neutral stadium. The Sicilian club were forced to play at Lecce as punishment for the unruly behaviour of their fans earlier this month.

Pellissier gave Chievo the lead at Roma after a defensive mix-up between keeper Alexander Doni and Christian Chivu, before Totti's cool finish restored parity for the 2001 champions.

Roma defenders Matteo Ferrari and Christian Panucci both had headers cleared off the line, and Panucci had a goal disallowed for offside.

Riccardo Zampagna's lobbed goal a minute from time completed Atalanta's remarkable comeback.

Fabio Quagliarella scored twice for Sampdoria, but two penalty kicks from Cristiano Doni - who left Sampdoria a year ago after two years with the Genoa club - brought the hosts level.