MILAN — United States international Christian Pulisic made his return from injury and nearly scored the decisive goal for AC Milan in a 2-2 draw against relegation-threatened Parma on Saturday, as the visitors squandered an early two-goal lead.
This draw left Milan tied with defending champions Napoli, who have a challenging match against Bologna on Sunday. Meanwhile, Inter Milan and Roma sat a point behind Milan and will also be in action on Sunday, competing against Lazio and Udinese, respectively.
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With a win, Milan could have ascended to the top of the table, and they took an early lead in the 12th minute when Christopher Nkunku set up Alexis Saelemaekers, who skillfully cut inside and placed a shot into the bottom left corner.
Saelemaekers later drew a penalty for the Rossoneri in the 25th minute, a foul committed by Iliman Ndiaye while the Belgian winger, who was approaching the byline, was fouled unnecessarily.
Rafael Leão converted the penalty to double Milan’s lead.
Milan seemed to be dominating the match, but Parma fought back, scoring in first-half stoppage time when Adrián Bernabé found the net with a curling left-foot strike from the left edge of the area.
Parma equalized in the 62nd minute, with Enrico Del Prato heading in a cross from Sascha Britschgi.
Pulisic entered the game in the 70th minute for his first appearance in almost a month following a hamstring injury during international duty.
Just six minutes later, he nearly made a game-changing play, running onto Leão’s backheel flick but shooting just past the right post with only the goalkeeper to beat.
This result was crucial for Parma, allowing them to climb two points above the relegation zone.
In other matches, Juventus remained in fifth place, three points behind the leaders, following a goalless draw against local rivals Torino.
Torino goalkeeper Alberto Paleari made a quick reaction save to deny U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie‘s header.
Juventus keeper Michele Di Gregorio had previously prevented a goal from Ché Adams with a one-handed save.
Juventus had won their previous match 2-1 under new manager Luciano Spalletti at Cremonese but were held to a draw against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.