Cagliari denies Conceicao league win with Milan
AC Milan was held to a 1-1 draw at San Siro by relegation-battler Cagliari to deny new coach Sergio Conceicao a win on his Serie A debut.
Milan dominated the entire match but struggled to get going in the first half, with Mattia Felici coming closest to breaking the deadlock as he forced a fine save out of Mike Maignan.
The hosts started the second half on the front foot with Christian Pulisic rattling the bar with a half-volley from the edge of the box shortly after the break.
They eventually got their reward in the 51st minute. Alvaro Morata was perfectly placed to turn in from close range after Pulisic's low volley had struck the post.
However, Cagliari stunned the hosts four minutes later after a counter-attack, with defender Nadir Zortea scoring with a low shot from outside the box that squirmed under Maignan, who should perhaps have done better.
Milan kept pushing, with Elia Caprile making superb saves to deny Pulisic, Tammy Abraham and Theo Hernandez, who was denied in the closing seconds.
Conceicao's side sits eighth in the standings on 28 points, eight points behind fourth-placed Lazio, but with two games in hand. Cagliari is 18th with 18 points.
The Mian coach's previous two matches in charge of Milan saw the team go behind, even if it did come back to win them both en route to winning the Supercoppa Italiana.
It was somewhat new territory for the Portuguese when Morata's fifth goal of the season gave his side the lead at the start of what was a dominant second half.
However, one defensive lapse in concentration cost Milan all three points.
Zortea has now scored four league goals this season, a joint-high among defenders in the top five European leagues, level with Willi Orban, Lukas Kublar and Josko Gvardiol.
