AC Milan rally to beat Catania

Stephan El Shaarawy scored a brace as AC Milan came from one goal down to beat Catania 3-1 in the Italian Serie A on Friday. Nicola Legrottaglie opened the scoring after 11 minutes with a powerful header, but the hosts suffered a melt down when their midfielder Pablo Barrientos got the marching order three minutes after the break, and the Rossoneri swiftly capitalised on their extra man with goals from El Shaarawy and Kevin-Prince Boateng. Boateng's dismissal at the death evened up the personnel, but the visitors nevertheless grabbed the game's only remaining goal as El Shaarawy struck again to seal the points. The result lifted Massimiliano Allegri's side up to seventh in the standings - two points above their opponents. Allegri conceded that El Shaarawy's first goal was offside. "The first goal from El Shaarawy was offside," Allegri said. "It was easy to see. It was tough on Catania, because they played a really good game. "The first half was very even, but we improved vastly in the second half. "It is an important win for us and it allows us to continue the good form we are on," he said. Milan almost went ahead in the sixth minute when Boateng latched on to Robinho's pass and got his shot away, only to be denied by Catania goalkeeper Mariano Andujar. And five minutes later the visitors were behind, Legrottaglie despatching Francesco Lodi's corner into the top-right corner. Barrientos saw red in the early stages of the second period after his foul on Nocerino earned a second yellow card. Within two minutes of the dismissal, El Shaarawy had Milan back on level terms. He tapped home from close range after Prince Boateng's right-wing cross had fallen to him via Robinho, and the goal was allowed to stand despite furious offside claims from the Catania defence. The home team's anger mounted in the 56th minute when the Rossoneri went ahead. Mattia De Sciglio provided the cross for El Shaarawy to set up Boateng, who sent a fine curling shot into the bottom-right corner. Boateng was sent for an early bath after a bad foul from behind on Lucas Castro in the 90th minute but, despite that setback, El Shaarawy wrapped up the triumph in stoppage time with a neat curling shot from Kevin Constant's pass.