Ivan Perisic’s stoppage-time equaliser denied Milan victory as Internazionale salvaged a 2-2 draw.
Two maiden San Siro goals from the Spanish schemer Suso had put Milan on a course to claim second place in the Serie A table but, with Antonio Candreva grabbing Inter’s first leveller at the start of the second half, Perisic put the brakes on the Rossoneri.
The point will mean a lot to the new Inter head coach, Stefano Pioli, hired to fix the mess left behind by Frank de Boer, who departed with Inter languishing in the bottom half of the table.
“My players can sleep well as they showed excellent spirit and gave a good performance, even if they didn’t get the win,” said the Milan coach, Vincenzo Montella. “I think the glass is half full, because the standings look good from our point of view.”
Inter dominated the first half and should have gone ahead when Antonio Candreva’s mis-hit shot found Mauro Icardi unmarked in front of goal but the Argentine, who has never scored against Milan in the derby, completely miskicked.
Milan took advantage in the 42nd minute when Giacomo Bonaventura broke out of his half and found Suso who cut inside his marker and scored with a low shot into the far corner.
Inter levelled eight minutes after the restart when a quick throw-in found Candreva who unleashed an unstoppable shot that flew past Gianluigi Donnarumma from 30 metres. The former Genoa and Liverpool forward Suso put Milan back in front five minutes later with another superbly taken goal. The Spaniard collected Carlos Bacca’s pass, skipped past Miranda and slipped the ball into the far corner.
Hot on Milan’s heels are Lazio and Atalanta, whose impressive runs continued on Sunday courtesy of home victories over Genoa and Roma respectively.
A seven-game unbeaten streak had helped Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio climb the table and goals from Felipe Anderson, Lucas Biglia and Wallace proved too much for Genoa in a 3-1 triumph in the capital. Lucas Ocampos scored for Genoa, who next face the leaders, Juventus.
Franck Kessie’s late penalty fired Atalanta into the race for Champions League football as Roma suffered a 2-1 defeat.
Diego Perotti’s penalty put Roma on the right track in Bergamo, only for Mattia Caldara to snatch a second-half equaliser.
Just when Roma looked ready to settle for a draw the Ivorian midfielder Kessie secured a fifth straight Atalanta win and their seventh in eight matches.
Juventus, who beat Pescara 3-0 on Saturday, lead the table with 33 points from 13 games, with Roma second (26) and Milan third on goal difference. Inter are ninth with 18 points.
Further down the table Federico Bernardeschi made it five goals in his last five games, with Josip Ilicic also scoring twice, as Fiorentina thumped Empoli 4-0 to reach eighth place.
Sampdoria produced a brilliant comeback to seal a remarkable 3-2 win over Sassuolo at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
Sassuolo led 2-0 with six minutes left, thanks to Federico Ricci and Antonino Ragusa, but Fabio Quagliarella pulled one back before Luis Muriel’s brace secured a stunning turnaround.
Bologna broke their barren run of seven league games without a win thanks to a comfortable 3-1 home triumph over Palermo.
Ilija Nestorovski tapped in an early goal for the Sicilians before Mattia Destro equalised. After the break Blerim Dzemaili and Federico Viviano completed the comeback.
Andrea Belotti scored a late double to give Torino a 2-0 victory, and second consecutive win, at the bottom club, Crotone.
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