The China Mail - AC Milan drop points in thrilling draw at Cagliari

The 19-time league champions remain seventh but are now four points off the Champions League places and seven behind pacesetters Napoli.

Rafael Leao scored twice in the first half to give Milan the lead after Nadir Zortea's early opener.

Cagliari struck back soon after the break through Gabriele Zappa before Tammy Abraham restored the Rossoneri's lead, only for Zappa to score a sensational equaliser in the final stages.

"This draw is clearly a step backwards," AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca said to DAZN, referencing his side's midweek 3-1 victory in the Champions League against Real Madrid.

"Our problem today was our defence, we lacked aggression, we let them cross too much, we lost too many aerial duels, it's not possible to win a match in those conditions."

For the home side, the draw takes them to 16th place on 10 points, one clear of the drop zone.

Zortea gave Cagliari the perfect start on two minutes as he smashed home from the back post after a corner.

Leao brought Milan level 13 minutes later with a lobbed finish after being sent in behind the defence by Tijjani Reijnders' excellent lofted pass.

The Portuguese winger then doubled up five minutes before the break as Youssouf Fofana released him with an accurate long ball to his feet and he rounded the goalkeeper to give Milan the advantage.

Nine minutes after the break Fofana was at fault as he inadvertently played Zappa in behind his own defence and the Cagliari player finished past the advancing Mike Maignan.

Abraham looked to have completed the comeback for Fonseca's side with his second goal of the season when he tapped home on 69 minutes.

But Zappa equalised again for Cagliari with one minute left via a thumping volley from a looping cross that flashed past Maignan before he could react.

Earlier, Parma came from behind to beat fellow strugglers Venezia 2-1 away from home.

Hans Nicolussi Caviglia opened the scoring for the hosts but goals either side of the break from Emanuele Valeri and Ange-Yoan Bonny moved the Tuscans up to 14th, three points clear of the relegation zone.

Venezia remain bottom of the table on eight points after their eighth defeat in 12 outings since being promoted back to Serie A last term.

Later, Juventus will look to close their four-point gap to league leaders Napoli but face a visit from city rivals Torino.

The pick of Sunday's action is the trip of Napoli to second-place Inter Milan, with Antonio Conte's side only one point ahead of last year's champions.

Y.Parker--ThChM