Milan title hopes dealt a blow in draw with Samp; Juve held

AC Milan's faltering title hopes diminished still further on Saturday as it drew 1-1 at home to 10-man Sampdoria.

Jens Petter Hauge rescued a point for Milan three minutes from time and the Rossoneri almost snatched all three points but Franck Kessié's effort came off the post.

Fabio Quagliarella had scored in the 57th minute following a horrendous Milan error but Sampdoria midfielder Adrien Silva was sent off two minutes later.

Inter Milan can extend its advantage over second-place Milan to eight points with a win at Bologna later Saturday. It will also have played a match less than its city rival.

There was more misery for Juventus as it drew 2-2 at relegation-threatened Torino to slip to fourth. All 10 Serie A matches are taking place on the same day due to Easter Sunday.

Samp started aggressively in Milan and Gianluigi Donnarumma was forced into several good saves.

He could do nothing early in the second half after an error from teammate Theo Hernández, whose square pass was intercepted by Quagliarella. And the veteran forward took one touch before lobbing the ball over Donnarumma from distance.

Samp's good work was undone by an error by one of its own moments later. Silva was already on a yellow card and he went lunging into Samu Castillejo, so was promptly booked again and sent off.

Milan struggled to carve out genuine goalscoring opportunities but the equalizer eventually came when Hauge controlled a pass from Kessié before curling into the bottom right corner.

Kessié struck the left post in stoppage time following Zlatan Ibrahimović's throughball.

DERBY DRAW

Cristiano Ronaldo rescued a point for Juventus as the pressure grew on coach Andrea Pirlo.

Juventus was eliminated from the Champions League by Porto and surprisingly lost to Benevento before the international break.

Juventus plays its rearranged match with Napoli on Wednesday with the two sides level on points.

The Bianconeri were without Leonardo Bonucci and Merih

Demiral, who contracted the coronavirus on international duty. Weston McKennie, Paulo Dybala and Arthur Melo were also out of the squad after violating coronavirus restrictions with a party at the American midfielder's house.

Federico Chiesa fired Juventus in front in the 13th minute following a one-two with Álvaro Morata.

However, Antonio Sanabria leveled in the 27th and completed the comeback 17 seconds after the break following defensive errors from Juventus.

Torino goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu pulled off a number of saves but Ronaldo eventually headed in the equalizer 11 minutes from time. The goal was initially disallowed for offside but awarded after a review by the video assistant referee.

Juventus almost snatched a winner moments later but Sirigu managed to fingertip Rodrigo Bentancur's strike onto the base of the upright.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RACE

Luis Muriel scored twice in the first half to set Atalanta on its way to a 3-2 win over Udinese.

Roberto Pereyra got Udinese back into the match on the stroke of halftime but Duván Zapata restored Atalanta's two-goal advantage in the 71st.

Udinese's Jens Stryger Larsen scored 10 minutes later to set up a nervy finale.

Atalanta moved third, two points below Milan. It is two points above Juventus and Napoli, which struggled more than expected before beating bottom club Crotone 4-3.

Lazio is four points below fourth spot and the final Champions League qualifying berth after a 2-1 win at Spezia. Lazio players Manuel Lazzari and Joaquín Correa were sent off in stoppage time in separate incidents.