Antonio Cassano put on an impressive show to help AC Milan come back from 2-0 down to draw with visitors Lazio in their Serie A new season opener on Friday.

Lazio broke the deadlock with their new signing Miroslav Klose taking under 12 minutes to mark his Serie A debut. It was a well-worked move, as Klose hooked a Stefano Mauri ball past Alessandro Nesta with his right foot to fire low from nine yards with his left.

It was so nearly 2-0, as Djibril Cisse' pounced on a defensive error when Nesta crashed into Gennaro Gattuso, but Christian Abbiati beat the shot away and Klose fired wide under pressure. Gattuso picked up an eye injury during that incident and had to make way for the not 100 per cent fit Mark Van Bommel.

Lazio did double their lead in the 22nd minute with another goal from their debutant strikers. Cisse' powered in the header between defenders to put Mauri's cross into the near top corner. Abbiati was rooted to the spot.

Eight minutes later, Milan got themselves back into the game when Cassano sprung the offside trap from an Aquilani ball over the top and rolled it back into the middle for Ibra's easiest of tap-ins.

In the 34th mintue, from a corner kick Cassano got a glancing header that squirmed past the goalkeeper at the back stick to equalise.

Lazio should've been back in front when Abdoulay Konko burst down the right, but his pull-back for an unmarked Hernanes was somehow scuffed wide.

Right after the restart, a Cassano solo effort saw his angled drive flash inches past the base of the far post. Boateng then just missed with a diving header, but landed awkwardly and was able to continue after treatment to his shoulder.

Milan were now dominating and Cassano almost scored a sensational goal. He chested down Ibra's chipped pass and smacked a shot against the base of the near post. Moments later Cassano turned provider for Boateng, his volley stinging Bizzarri's palms as it headed towards the top corner.

However, there was a huge scare when Abbiati rushed off his line and missed the ball, but Nesta stuck to Cisse' like glue to acrobatically block the finish in front of an open goal.

Klose was getting tired and made way for Alejandro Gonzalez, while Antonio Nocerino made his Milan debut in place of Aquilani. Alexandre Pato was also thrown on as the Rossoneri pushed to win in the final stages. Senad Lulic made his Serie A bow, but Mauri was booked for taking too long to leave the field.

Bizzarri plucked an Ignazio Abate cross off the feet of Ibrahimovic, then Lulic desperately anticipated Cassano on the counter. Cassano theaded through to release Ibrahimovic, but Bizzarri got down to beat away the angled drive.

In stoppages Pato fired over the bar from a very promising position and wasted Milan's opportunity to win. Ibrahimovic then stumbled over a combination of the ball and Luciano Zauri when Giuseppe Biava made a mistake in the offside trap.

There was controversy at the 95th minute of stoppages when Milan were awarded a corner, but the referee called a halt to the game before it could be taken.

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