Inter Milan 2 - 2 AC Milan: Late Christian Zapata strike sees AC Milan snatch draw against rivals Inter

Posted Saturday, April 15, 2017 by PA

AC Milan snatched a point from the hands of arch-rivals Inter as Cristian Zapata scored with the last kick of the match in a pulsating 2-2 derby draw at the Giuseppe Meazza.

Milan dominated the early exchanges but trailed 2-0 at the break following strikes from Antonio Candreva and Mauro Icardi in the last nine minutes of the first half.

Alessio Romagnoli prodded in eight minutes from time to give Rossoneri hope of a comeback before Zapata pounced on a Manuel Locatelli header to volley home in the seventh minute of stoppage time and claim an unlikely point.

The result keeps Milan two points ahead of the Nerazzurri in sixth place in what was their first match under Chinese ownership.

Milan's free-flowing attack started a frantic 15 minutes when they pounced on a Roberto Gagliardini mistake in midfield, with Gerard Deulofeu testing Samir Handanovic at the end of a rapid counter-attack before Carlos Bacca blazed high over the crossbar from the centre of the Inter box.

At the other end, Joao Mario used quick feet to get past two players before bursting down the left wing to cross for Icardi but the Inter captain could only toe-poke over from six yards.

Milan piled on the pressure, with danger man Suso firing a left-footed sighter that Handanovic did well to punch out for a corner. From the resulting set-piece, Deulofeu left defensive midfielder Gagliardini standing still before dropping his shoulder and hitting a post from a tight angle, with Handanovic beaten.

Nerazzurri's resilience soon paid off on 36 minutes when a fantastic long ball over the top from Gagliardini found Candreva, who managed to squeeze past Mattia De Sciglio and sidefoot past a static Gianluigi Donnarumma to take the lead.

The goal injected some freedom for Inter and they almost doubled their lead moments later when Mario whipped in a low cross to the back post which just evaded captain Icardi.

However, the Argentinian did not have to wait long to get on the scoresheet.

On the stroke of half-time, the menacing Mario flicked on a long ball to Ivan Perisic and the Croatian produced a brilliant cross to find Icardi at the far post to tap in his 21st league goal of the season and open up a two-goal cushion at the break.

Both sides spurned decent chances after the restart, with a wayward Perisic shot falling into Candreva's path but he failed to hit the target, while at the other end a Rossoneri corner caused havoc but Kucka's overhead kick was fired straight at Handanovic.

The Nerazzurri nearly snatched a third when a rapid counter released Icardi down the left wing before the striker found Perisic with a slide-rule pass but the winger's first-time effort was too tame to trouble Donnarumma.

Bacca and Deulofeu both went close to pulling a goal back before their efforts were rewarded with eight minutes remaining when a short corner worked its way to Suso and the Spaniard's right-footed cross was timed perfectly for Romagnoli to prod in at the near post.

However, the drama did not stop there. Manuel Locatelli earned Milan a corner in the seventh minute of stoppage time and the midfielder rose highest to flick on a header to Zapata at the far post to rifle a volley in off the crossbar, with video technology confirming the equaliser and sending Rossoneri players and fans into raptures.