Sporting Gijón Beat Milan

Milan lined up at El Molinón in front of a packed house of nearly 19,000, but were bereft of some of their brightest starts. Ronaldinho, Kaká and Pato did not take part, for example, but the likes of Pirlo, Seedorf and Flamini still took part in what was a fairly convincing defeat for the visitors.Milan, though, domianted the early exchanges. Flamini was especially active as he took the game to the rojiblancos, but no Milanese player had luck in the finish.24 minutes in, though, the Molinón rocked to its foundations as Barral opened the scoring 24 minutes in. Canella provided the cross for the former Real Madrid youth to head home.This dented the visitors' confidence, and although they were to enjoy some more opportunities through the likes of Paloschi, Sergio Sánchez was able to pull off some fine saves.The second half went much more to Sporting's liking as both managers made changes. A second goal seemed likely and it duly came as Mate Bilic, the journeyman Croatian, fired in a free-kick fifteen minutes from time to delight the home support.Thus the 'Villa de Gijón' trophy stays on the Asturian coast, giving Sporting players and fans alike a massive boost heading into their top flight return, which begins next week.