AC Milan had to settle for a 2-2 draw against the bottom-placed side Salernitana on Friday night, with a late Luka Jovic strike earning them a point.
Fikayo Tomori got the opening goal as he bundled in a Rafael Leao cross from close range, but then Federico Fazio equalised before half-time with a header from a corner and then Antonio Candreva’s strike had Milan looking at a nightmare result.
Luka Jovic came off the bench and was on hand to smash home an equaliser with not long left in the game, but there was not enough time to force a winner as the Rossoneri had to settle for a point.
Milan could well end up nine points behind Juventus and 11 behind Inter in the title race, which is fast becoming a mirage with such inconsistent league results.
Stefano Pioli reverted to a four-man defence with Simon Kjaer partnering Fikayo Tomori at centre-back and Davide Calabria returning at right-back, with Ismael Bennacer making his first start in seven months in the defensive midfield role.
Milan had the first bit of danger in the second minute when they won the ball back inside the Salernitana half, with the feed from Tijjani Reijnders to Rafael Leao ending with a shot deflected behind for a corner after a VAR check for handball.
Salernitana called Mike Maignan into action for the first time five minutes later, when a cross with the outside of the boot from Bradaric inside the Milan area found Dia unmarked at the far post, whose weak effort was tipped around the corner by the Frenchman.
There were a couple of half chances for Milan inside the first 10 minutes, with Christian Pulisic first firing a volley well over the bar near the edge of the box then a header from the resulting corner was glanced over the bar.
With 17 minutes on the clock, Milan took the lead and it had been coming with the pressure. A corner kick was flicked on to the back post where Leao was waiting, and he controlled with his chest before firing a low cross in that was headed in by Tomori from a few yards out.
The two sides then began to trade chances. Theo Hernandez was put through in behind by Leao but Costil came off his line to make a brilliant stop, then Maignan made a stop from a free-kick that was headed on goal by his own man.
Just after the half-hour mark, Milan surrendered possession inside their own half and Salernitana worked the ball to Candreva who cut in on his left foot and had a shot fizz over the bar.
The Rossoneri continued to have their moments when they went forward, such as when Leao danced to the touchline and fired in a blocked cross that ended with Bennacer seeing a shot deflected wide from the edge of the box.
Maignan made his first big save of the season five minutes from the break to deny Kastanos, and from the resulting corner Salernitana levelled. A Candreva corner from the right was met by a towering header from Fazio, who directed it perfectly inside the far corner to make it 1-1.
Pioli made a change at the break, with Jan-Carlo Simic coming on for Kjaer who hadn’t displayed any signs of injury but might have been feeling a bit of fatigue.
The start to the second half mirror the start to the first, with Milan applying pressure in terms of territory but struggling to find the bit of quality needed to break their hosts down.
Not long after Loftus-Cheek had a shot saved at one end, Salernitana took the lead at the other. With Tomori down injured, the home side built an attack down their right side and Candreva unleashed a shot on goal that got past Maignan at the near post and went in.
Immediately after the goal, Tomori went off with a hamstring injury to add insult to injury quite literally, given the defensive crisis, and Alessandro Florenzi came on for him.
With 20 minutes left on the clock, Pioli made a double change. Pulisic came off for Samuel Chukwueze while Luka Jovic came on for Bennacer, with a two-man attack being the order of the day.
Jovic was denied after a fantastic double chance for Milan. Leao was the one who darted to the byline and provided a cut-back for Jovic who first saw his header parried and then his rebound was charged down.
Just as the game went intro extra time, Milan got themselves level and it was once again the substitute Jovic who scored. A cross from Calabria was knocked down by Giroud, and Jovic let it bounce before hitting it on the half-volley and making it 2-2.
