Birthday boy El Shaarawy rescues ailing Milan

AC Milan‘s forward Stephan El Shaarawy celebrates at the end of the Italian Serie A football match against Genoa at San Siro Stadium in Milan. El Shaarawy marked his 20th birthday by scoring the late goal which gave ailing AC Milan a 1-0 win over Genoa, although the pressure on embattled coach Massimiliano Allegri is unlikely to ease.

MILAN - Italy striker Stephan El Shaarawy marked his 20th birthday by scoring the late goal which gave ailing AC Milan a 1-0 win over Genoa on Saturday, although the pressure on embattled coach Massimiliano Allegri is unlikely to ease.

Allegri kept faith with the 3-4-3 experiment he launched ahead of the 1-0 defeat to Malaga in the Champions League in midweek.

And after a frustrating 70 minutes, in which Alexandre Pato and second-half substitute Giampaolo Pazzini failed to fire, a controversial goal settled the match when El Shaarawy tapped home Ignazio Abate’s low drive from an offside position in the 77th minute.

“There were times tonight that doubt started to creep in, especially after we had created a couple of chances,” Allegri told Sky Italia.

“This is the team’s victory, they deserved it. They have come in for some undeserved criticism lately.”

A knee injury to Ghanaian Kevin Prince Boateng meant Brazilian striker Pato started for the first time in eight months, joining El Shaarawy and Dutchman Urby Emanuelson up front.

Genoa’s defender Mario Sampirisi (R) fights for the ball with AC Milan’s forward Stephan El Shaarawy during their Italian Serie A football match at San Siro Stadium in Milan. El Shaarawy has come to Milan’s rescue several times this season and he produced a fine solo effort on the half hour which came off Cesare Bovo for a corner.

Genoa started with new coach Luigi Del Neri at the helm following the sacking of Luigi De Canio in midweek and produced a solid first half performance against a side struggling to find rhythm.

With only one win in their last seven games, Genoa were hoping to capitalise on Milan’s shaky start to the campaign and were given an opening in the 16th minute.

A defensive error by Colombian defender Cristian Zapata allowed Luca Antonelli to send in a dangerous cross which Marco Amelia, in for the ailing Christian Abbiati, punched out before Ciro Immobile pounced to send the ball just wide of his post.

It would not be Zapata’s first or last blunder, compounding the frustration of the increasingly unforgiving Rossoneri fans.

El Shaarawy has come to Milan’s rescue several times this season and he produced a fine solo effort on the half hour which came off Cesare Bovo for a corner.

Barely 10 minutes later the striker sent a delightful ball past Sebastien Frey’s goalmouth but the ball found no takers when a tap-in would have done the trick.

Allegri made his only substitution of the half when Kevin Constant replaced Luca Antonini after the defender was left clutching his left thigh following a challenge.

Minutes after the restart, Milan spurned two chances to break the deadlock as Genoa ran out of ideas.

AC Milan’s forward Stephan El Shaarawy (L) celebrates after scoring during their Italian Serie A football match against Genoa at San Siro Stadium in Milan. El Shaarawy marked his 20th birthday by scoring the late goal which gave ailing AC Milan a 1-0 win over Genoa, although the pressure on embattled coach Massimiliano Allegri is unlikely to ease.

First, Pato cut into the middle to set up Constant only for the Guinean midfielder to miss the ball by a whisker at the far post.

Emanuelson’s cross then found fellow Dutchman Nigel De Jong in space but Genoa were more worried when Abate’s shot from the rebound forced Frey to save dramatically with his feet.

Allegri finally replaced Pato with Pazzini, a striker known for his knack of being in the right place at the right time, but once again it was El Shaarawy who rode to the rescue.

Milan had two late chances to compound Del Neri’s disappointing debut, Emanuelson being thwarted by an alert Frey after latching on to El Shaarawy’s great through ball and then hitting the crossbar seven minutes from time.

Earlier Saturday there were no winners in what was effectively an early season relegation dogfight between Palermo and Siena, the match ending in a scoreless draw.

Champions and leaders Juventus, who hold a three-point lead over Napoli, are in action 1030 GMT Sunday away to Catania.