AC Milan and Empoli drew 1-1 on Sunday afternoon in Serie A at San Siro.
Mattia Destro gave the Rossoneri the lead against the run of play in the first half before Massimo Maccarone got a deserved equaliser in the second half and the Azzurri could have gone on to win it.
Empoli had the game’s first real chance in the third minute when Manuel Pucciarelli got in behind Gabriel Paletta thanks to a sublime pass from Mirko Valdifiori but he fired wide at the near post.
Mario Rui almost scored the goal of the season in the ninth minute with a superb shot from the halfway line after spotting Diego Lopez off his line but the outrageous effort just missed the target and hit the post on its way wide.
Empoli came close in the 36th when Rui forced Lopez to tip a shot onto his near post after catching the Spaniard off guard with a stabbed shot.
The Azzurri went through on goal minutes later but the move broke down after Pucciarelli tried to square the ball to Maccarone.
Milan opened the scoring against the run of play in the 40th minute after Mattia Destro got onto the end of a low ball across the face of goal from Giacamo Bonaventura to cap off a counterattack that was spearheaded by Jeremy Menez and the Rossoneri took their one goal lead into the break.
Milan looked more impressive at the start of the second half than they did in the first half but Empoli continued to pose a threat going forwards.
Empoli had a chance to equalise on the hour mark after the substitute Simone Verdi got onto the end of a looping ball into the box but the he couldn’t generate enough power on the volley to really trouble Lopez.
The Azzurri had success in getting the ball into good areas down both flanks but their crosses struggled to find players in front of goal.
The away side brought on Francesco Tavano in the 64th minute and the striker registered a shot on target and fired off a bicycle kick immediately after taking to the pitch as Empoli started to get more shots away quicker.
Empoli nabbed a deserved equaliser in the 67th minute after a spell of domination was capitalised on when Maccarone lost Paletta and headed in after getting onto a Elseid Hysaj cross from deep.
Milan had a chance to restore their lead after Menez, Bonaventura and Destro linked up again in 78th minute but the striker headed off target from Bonaventura’s cross.
Empoli had a golden chance to win it after a terrible kick from Lopez sent Tavano through on goal but the keeper redeemed himself with a great save, the only problem was he was outside the area and subsequently sent off.
The red card was worth it however as the ball was going in and the Azzurri wasted the free kick.
The away side pressed forwards with a two man advantage after Paletta went off injured but were unable to create any real chances and the game finished 1-1.
