Spaniard Fernando Torres scored his maiden goal for AC Milan on his full Serie A debut to help spark a fightback in a 2-2 draw away to Empoli on Tuesday.
Empoli had won only two of their 18 previous league meetings with Milan and had never beaten the Rossoneri at their Stadio Carlo Castellani, but the Serie B runners-up made the most of a sluggish start by Filippo Inzaghi’s men to race to a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes thanks to goals from Lorenzo Tonelli and Manuel Pucciarelli.
In the end Milan escaped with a point, but they had been stunned by Empoli’s pace.
Photo: Reuters
“If we want to achieve some of the ambitions we’ve set out, we can’t afford to concede goals in such a manner,” former Milan striker Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.
Milan could have conceded more in a busy opening period for the visitors’ defense, with goalkeeper Christian Abbiati coming to their rescue on several occasions, before finally awaking from their slumber minutes before halftime.
Having waited 34 minutes for their first shot on goal thanks to Keisuke Honda, Milan finally reduced the arrears when Torres sent a looping header from Ignazio Abate’s cross into Luigi Sepe’s top corner on 43 minutes.
Honda leveled just before the hour with a daisy-cutter from the edge of the penalty area which beat Sepe into the bottom corner.
Milan pressed for a winner in the dying minutes of the match after Mirko Valdifiori was cautioned for a second time following a brutal challenge on Nigel de Jong and sent off in the 87 minute.
It was Empoli’s second expulsion of the night, coach Maurizio Sarri being shown a red card for protesting the referee’s decision to award no penalty for a handball by Daniele Bonera.
“The handball by Bonera should have been a penalty. When you’re up against a team with striped shirts, they [referees] always decide in their favor,” Sarri said.
Milan’s first draw of the season leaves them in fourth position. Empoli remain in the relegation zone, third from bottom and still looking for their first win of the campaign.
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