MILAN, Jan 15 : AC Milan’s dismal start to the year continued when it had to fight back from two goals down to draw at Lecce 2-2, losing more ground in the Serie A title race.
An early Théo Hernandez own goal and a header from Federico Baschirotto gave Lecce a solid halftime lead.
But Milan, which fumbled a two-goal lead last week, managed to rescue a point with goals from Rafael Leão and captain Davide Calabria.
Milan moved back into second spot but the defending champion was nevertheless nine points behind Napoli, which crushed Juventus 5-1 on Friday.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan was level with Juventus, a point behind AC Milan, after a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Hellas Verona.
Matters did not improve at Lecce as Milan found itself behind almost immediately. Hernandez tried to intercept a cross from Federico Di Francesco but ended up bundling the ball into his own net in the third minute.
Lecce doubled its tally in the 23rd when a corner was taken short and a cross whipped in by Hjulmand for Baschirotto to head in.Milan offered little in the first half and Lecce squandered more chances.
But the Rossoneri came out after the break in different fashion and pulled one back in the 58th. Olivier Giroud’s effort was parried and the ball went to Leao, who everyone expected to cross. Instead, he surprised Lecce goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone by firing in from a tight angle.
And the comeback was complete 12 minutes later when Giroud headed Dest’s cross back across goal for Calabria to head in the equalizer.
Marinez magic
World Cup winner Lautaro Martínez scored for a third straight match for Inter.The Argentina international got Inter off to the perfect start in the third minute. This is Martínez’s ninth league goal of the season followed another score midweek in an Italian Cup victory over Parma.
Martínez also had a goal disallowed in the 63rd for a foul by him on Verona defender Pawel Dawidowicz in the buildup.
Bleak future
Cremonese’s future looks to be ever more bleak after the bottom club lost at home to Monza 3-2.Cremonese remained the only team without a win, and eight points from safetyin the table. (PTI)
