Milan substitutes come to the rescue as they draw at Lazio, Cagliari beat Atalanta

ROME, Sept 12 : Substitute Diego Moreira grabbed two goals in as many minutes to allow AC Milan to fight their way back and hold hosts Lazio to a 2-2 draw at the Olympic Stadium in Serie A on Saturday.

The point was enough to see Lazio go top of the standings on 10 points from four games, but they ceded their winning start to the season as Milan’s halftime changes paid dividends.

Milan have two wins and two draws from their opening four fixtures and are fifth in the standings with eight points.

Lazio played again with a half-empty stadium as their ultras continued a long-running boycott of matches in a protest directed at club president Claudio Lotito, but there was plenty for the travelling fans to savour as Milan could have snatched all three points.

Matteo Cancellieri had the home side in front after 10 minutes, getting ahead of Milan fullback Pervis Estupinan to knock home Mattia Zaccagni’s ball across the face of goal.

A cross from the left by Kenneth Taylor set up Lazio’s second for his Dutch compatriot Tijjani Noslin six minutes before the break.

Noslin’s initial effort saw him slide the ball against the woodwork and he was on his knees when he headed home the rebound, although replays suggested there was help from Milan defender Koni De Winter’s botched efforts to clear.

Milan coach Ruben Amorim made three halftime changes and they helped to slowly turn the tide, with Moreira’s first goal coming from a sudden counter-attack in the 65th minute.

The Belgian international, signed from RC Strasbourg at the start of the campaign, hit a rasping full volley from a tight angle at the back post to convert fellow substitute Christian Pulisic’s cross.

He then hit another left-footed effort from the edge of the area into the back of the net, having been teed up by Adrien Rabiot, as Milan took control of proceedings.

But in the end, they failed to find a winner.

In the late kick-off, Atalanta slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Cagliari, with Sead Kolasinac handling the ball in the box to concede a second-half penalty that gave the visitors the win. 

Cagliari took the lead in the 19th minute when 19-year-old forward Paul Mendy rattled in the opener off the underside of the crossbar, but Gianluca Scamacca levelled for the home side four minutes before the break. 

Mendy had the ball in the net again early in the second half only for the goal to be ruled out for a narrow offside, but they took the lead again after Kolasinac was penalised, Daniel Maldini firing home from the spot to secure the three points. 

The result moves Cagliari up to fourth in the table with nine points from their four games, while Atalanta are in ninth spot on six points. 

Earlier, hosts Genoa, who have yet to win this season, were held 1-1 by newly promoted Frosinone, who have seven points.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Additional reporting by Philip O'Connor in Stockholm; Editing by Clare Fallon)