Cagliari 1 AC Milan 1: Balotelli strokes home penalty to rescue Rossoneri yet again
Mario Balotelli was again the saviour of AC Milan as he rescued a point from the penalty spot against 10-man Cagliari.
Having scored twice, including a last minute spot-kick, to defeat Udinese on his debut seven days ago, the £19m January signing from Manchester City rescued his new side again.
Milan, who could not afford a defeat as they try and keep pace with Juventus, Napoli and Lazio in the Serie A title race, trailed to a Victor Ibarbo goal on the stroke of half-time.
Leveller: Mario Balotelli strokes home from the penalty spot to earn AC Milan a point
Message: Balotelli wore the names of Franco and Silvia, his adoptive parents, on his boots
But with just nine minutes remaining, Balotelli was dragged down by Davide Astori, winning a penalty and earning the Cagliari defender a second yellow card.
Astori had been booked after 67 minutes for a rash tackle on the Italy striker.
Balotelli made no mistake from the spot, his third goal in Milan colours in two games equalling his entire tally for the
season at Manchester City.
And he had a couple of late headers to win the match for Milan - the second of which drew a good save from Michael Agazzi, though Balotelli was in an offside position.
Cagliari, who are trying to keep out of relegation danger, took the lead with an excellent goal from the Columbian Ibarbo.
Daniele Conti, the captain, swung in a free-kick and the striker twisted to glance a header past Christian Abbiati.
Elsewhere in Serie A, Aurelio Andreazzoli suffered a 3-1 defeat by Sampdoria in his first match in charge as Roma coach in the Serie A match at Comunale Luigi Ferraris.
Andreazzoli, who was put in charge after Zdenek Zeman was sacked earlier in the week, saw the size of the task in hand as Samp showed more hunger and desire to get the three points which moved them further away from the relegation zone.
Marcelo Estigarribia gave Sampdoria the lead in the 56th minute and Gianluca Sansone doubled their advantage after Roma's Pablo Osvaldo missed a penalty and Erik Lamela had a goal disallowed.
Main man: Balotelli celebrates his goal (above) and also had one disallowed (below) as Milan drew
Lamela did reduce the arrears in the 75th minute, but Mauro Icardi sealed the win for the Blucerchiati just two minutes later.
The three points take Sampdoria seven points clear of the drop zone while Roma's hopes of qualifying for Europe next season may now rest on their progress in the Coppa Italia with six points separating them from the top five.
Udinese beat Torino 1-0 thanks to Robert Pereyra as they increased their unbeaten home record to 11 games in a row at the Stadio Friuli.
Pereyra scored with practically the first chance of the match, pouncing on Antonio Di Natale's parried shot to beat Torino goalkeeper Jean-Francois Gillet on the rebound.
Francesco Guidolin's side remained in control of the game without needing to score a second goal to take the points while Torino struggled to create chances.
The result means Udinese climbed up to seventh in the overall standings, four points adrift of a place in Europe next season.
Palermo came from behind to avoid what would have been a painful defeat at home to fellow relegation strugglers Pescara to secure a 1-1 draw.
It was the first point for Alberto Malesani, who was appointed earlier this week to replace Gian Piero Gasperini, after he saw his new side fall behind to a goal from Birkir Bjarnason in the 73rd minute.
But Diego Fabbrini levelled 10 minutes from time and a strong finale to the game gave the bottom side in Serie A hope of climbing to safety, even if the point still left them rooted to the foot of the table.
In front: Sampdoria's forward Mauro Icardi (right) scores in his side's win over Roma
Relegation-threatened Siena also claimed a point away at Bologna although they can consider themselves fortunate after they were pegged back for much of the match by the hosts.
Nigerian striker Innocent Emeghara put the visitors ahead at Renato Dall'Ara with a 33rd-minute effort only for Panagiotis Kone to level matters five minutes before the break.
Bologna had virtually all of the remaining chances but were unable to find a winner, handing second-bottom Siena a point in their battle against the drop.
Catania drew a blank against Atalanta despite dominating the clash which finished 0-0 at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia.
Lucas Castro and Alejandro Gomez both missed golden opportunities to score for the visitors in the first half before Atalanta goalkeeper Andrea Consigli made a great save after the break to ensure his side a point and a valuable clean sheet.
Parma also played out a goalless draw against Genoa but there was no shortage of chances in what was a very open match.
Andrea Bertolacci struck the post twice in the second half as Genoa were denied what would have been an important win in the battle against the Serie A drop.
He hit the woodwork in the 48th and 57th minutes, but neither side could find the net as the afternoon ended in frustration for the visitors, who remained just above the relegation zone.
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