Milan: Inter Milan came back twice to rescue a 2-2 draw at home to Napoli in Serie A on Sunday, while AC Milan climbed into fourth after securing a 3-1 victory at Hellas Verona thanks to a brace from Keisuke Honda.
The match at San Siro sparked into life late on when Jose Callejon capitalized on an error by Nemanja Vidic to break the deadlock but substitute Fredy Guarin leveled almost immediately.
Callejon thought he had scored the winner in the final minute but Hernanes equalized moments later. The result should relieve a bit of the pressure on coach Walter Mazzari - who left Napoli for Inter - after back-to-back defeats.
"The coach is very tired and very angry, he will speak on Wednesday about the match. He apologizes, but today it's like that," Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio said. "We were really playing at the top in the first half, there was only one team on the pitch and I think it's undebatable that we deserved more than one goal."
Sampdoria remained third despite squandering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Cagliari, while Lazio won 2-0 at Fiorentina and Palermo beat fellow promoted side Cesena 2-1.
Also, Torino beat Udinese 1-0 and Atalanta defeated Parma by the same scoreline. There was little sign of the crazy finale to come at San Siro, although both sides hit the post through Hernanes and Lorenzo Insigne.
Callejon scored his first in the 79th minute, pouncing on the ball after Vidic had headed on a throw-in and smashing it past Samir Handanovic. Guarin had been on the pitch for barely a minute when he leveled, tapping in at the post after Mauro Icardi nodded on a corner.
Mazzarri was sent to the stands for stepping out of his technical area and matters grew worse for Inter when Callejon volleyed into the far right corner in the final minute but Hernanes ensured the home side snatched a point in stoppage time.
Neighbors Milan fared better as Honda scored in either half to take his tally to six for the season and match Carlos Tevez as top goal scorer. Verona gifted Milan the lead in the 21st when an attempted clearance went wrong and Rafa Marques sliced Ignazio Abate's cross into his own net.
Honda doubled Milan's lead shortly afterwards when he drove home Stephan El Shaarawy's cross-field pass.
The Japan international bagged his second of the game 11 minutes into the second half when he latched on to a long through ball from Adil Rami before drilling it into the bottom left corner.
Nico Lopez scored a consolation for Verona three minutes from time but defender Rafa Marquez was sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card to compound the home side's misery.
"The lads make me proud to train them," Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi said. "I didn't think we'd be 3-0 up at such a difficult ground."
Like Verona and Milan, both Fiorentina and Lazio went into the match on the same points.
Filip Djordjevic gave Lazio a deserved lead in the 35th minute, with his fifth goal in three matches after Antonio Candreva latched onto Lucas Biglia's through ball and put in a low cross for Djordjevic to smash in at the near post.
Fiorentina dominated the second half and Alberto Aquilani almost equalized with a bicycle kick that crashed off the upright. Lazio sealed a third successive win in stoppage time after a counterattack as Candreva squared the ball for Senad Lulic to tap into an empty net.
In Cagliari, Sampdoria broke the deadlock in the 28th when Manolo Gabbiadini volleyed in from close range a chipped free kick from Angelo Palombo. Sampdoria seemed to be heading for a comfortable win when Pedro Obiang went on a run and drove home to double his side's lead shortly before halftime.
Gabbiadini should have sealed the result minutes after the restart but he hit the post from close range and Samp was left to rue that miss as just before the hour mark Fabrizio Cacciatore was sent off for a foul on Victor Ibarbo which resulted in a second booking and a penalty.
Danilo Avelar fired home from the spot before setting up Marco Sau for the equalizer in the 77th. Palermo recorded its first win of the season thanks to a stoppage-time header from debutant Giancarlo Gonzalez.
Cesena played the final 11 minutes with 10 men after Manuel Coppola received two yellow cards in quick succession.
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