AC Milan missed out on a Europa League spot as they finished eighth in Serie A despite a 2-1 win over Sassuolo in an ill-tempered game that saw three players sent off.
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Clarence Seedorf's side went ahead in the second minute of the game when the ball fell to Sulley Muntari outside of the area and he powered the ball past Alberto Pomini into the net.
Kaka almost doubled the home side's lead as he fired a shot at goal from the edge of the box, but Pomini did well to beat his effort away from the net.
Milan did get their second goal when Kaka was brought down on the edge of the area and Nigel de Jong found the net from the set piece as he rifled a shot into the bottom corner.
Kaka was causing the visitors all sorts of problems and he went close again just before the break as he linked up with Riccardo Montolivo, but he guided his shot over the bar.
After the break, Stephan El Shaarawy came close to notching a third for Milan as he powered a shot at goal, but Pomini made an excellent save to keep his side in the game.
Domenico Berardi tried to get his side back into the game when he raced onto a through-ball from Davide Biondini, but he couldn't beat Christian Abbiati, who made a good stop.
Milan were reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes to go in the game when Philippe Mexes was shown his second yellow card following a poor challenge on Berardi.
Giampaolo Pazzini came close to sealing the win for the home side but his effort was saved by Pomini after he latched onto a pass from Montolivo.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men as well five minutes from time when Paolo Cannavaro was shown a straight red card.
However, Mattia de Sciglio then brought down Nicola Sansone in the penalty area and he was shown a red card to reduce the home side to nine men. Simone Zaza scored from the spot to set up a tense finale.
Seedorf's side managed to hold out for the win, but due to Parma's win over Livorno they missed out on the Europa League.
Simon Sinclair
