Rome: Ten-man AC Milan rallied for a 1-1 draw with last-place Bari on Sunday after Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off for punching an opponent in the stomach.
Second-half substitute Antonio Cassano scored in the 82nd minute for the Serie A leader following a superb cross from Luca Antonini at the San Siro.
Hungary forward Gergely Rudolf had put Bari ahead in the 39th, finishing off a perfectly executed set piece.
Ibrahimovic was given a straight red card for hitting Marco Rossi in the 73rd after the defender beat him to a header.
"We knew it wasn't going to be a game won before it started and we complicated things by allowing a goal in the first half," said Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri. "We're very bitter and upset. We've played two good games this week and we haven't gained as much as we should have."
Milan restored its five-point lead over Inter Milan after its city rival was held to a 1-1 draw at Brescia on Friday.
Elsewhere, Antonio Di Natale raised his league-best scoring total to 24 goals as Udinese won 4-0 at Cagliari to join Napoli in third place, nine points behind Milan.
Also, Roma captain Francesco Totti scored twice in a 2-0 derby win over Lazio — Roma's fifth consecutive win over its city rival.
Roma midfielder David Pizarro hit the crossbar five minutes in at the Stadio Olimpico. Lazio's Cristian Ledesma and Sergio Floccari both missed decent chances before Lazio goalkeeper Fernando Muslera was unable to handle Totti's free kick as Lazio's wall fell apart in the 70th.
Totti then added a penalty in added time, giving him 199 goals in his Serie A career.
Lazio defender Stefan Radu was sent off for headbutting Roma midfielder Fabio Simplicio in the 88th. Simplicio was then taken down inside the area in the 90th to set up Totti's penalty and Ledesma was sent off for protesting, leaving Lazio with nine men.
In other matches on a rainy day up and down the peninsula, it was: Catania 1, Sampdoria 0; Chievo Verona 0, Fiorentina 1; Genoa 1, Palermo 0; and Lecce 0, Bologna 1.
Later, Napoli was at Parma.
In the lunchtime fixture, Milan dominated throughout but Bari took advantage of its only legitimate chance in the first half.
Sergio Almiron slid a free kick around Milan's wall to Rudolf and with only goalkeeper Christian Abbiati to beat Rudolf found the target with an angled shot inside the far post as Milan's cast of international stars looked on incredulously.
Milan striker Robinho had a goal waved off for offside 30 seconds into the second half and Ibrahimovic also had a strike called back when he was whistled for controlling the ball with his arm. Outraged, the Sweden international argued that the ball had merely touched his shoulder. The outburst cost him a yellow card.
Ibrahimovic also had several other chances, but his emotions appeared to have taken a toll on his confidence after he took much of the blame for Milan's elimination from the Champions League by Tottenham on Wednesday.
If Ibrahimovic is given a multi-match ban he'll miss the derby with Inter on April 3.
"He's got to stay calm, he shouldn't get nervous because he hasn't scored in a month," Allegri said. "He's given a lot to this club."
Fortunately for Milan, Cassano appeared fresh when he came on, although he didn't celebrate after scoring against his hometown club.
Former Milan standouts Marco van Basten and George Weah were on hand for the match and a celebration of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's 25-year anniversary as club president.
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