Soccer Football - Coppa Italia - Semi Final - First Leg - AC Milan v Inter Milan - San Siro, Milan, Italy - April 2, 2025 Inter Milan's Stefan de Vrij in action with AC Milan's Tammy Abraham REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo
MILAN (Reuters) -Inter Milan recovered from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw against AC Milan in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final tie on Wednesday as Tammy Abraham and Hakan Calhanoglu scored in the second half.
Abraham gave Milan the lead just after the break, finding the net with an angled shot into the bottom corner, before Inter levelled through a powerful long-range effort by Calhanoglu in the 67th minute.
Serie A leaders Inter, who on Tuesday travel to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals, are bidding for their first treble in 15 years.
For Milan, who sit ninth in Serie A five points off the European spots, success in the domestic cup remains their best chance of qualifying for Europe next season.
The Coppa Italia winners automatically go into the Europa League league phase.
Inter, without injured striker Lautaro Martinez, enjoyed more possession on the night but both sides took their time to grow into the game.
Rafael Leao had an excellent chance to put Milan ahead after 26 minutes, with Inter keeper Josep Martinez saving his shot from a tight angle, while Calhanoglu put Milan's Mike Maignan to work with a thunderous free kick.
The France keeper pulled off another great save to stop a Davide Frattesi header just before the interval.
Abraham broke the deadlock in the 47th minute.
The 27-year-old was teed up with a neat pass on the edge of the box by Youssouf Fofana and he moved past the Inter defence to fire home a low strike.
Inter intensified their efforts and Calhanoglu equalised 20 minutes later, expertly scoring with a low first-time strike.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan had a late chance to give Inter the lead before Milan's Leao sent a terrific effort just wide minutes from fulltime.
Nine-times winners Inter last lifted the trophy in 2023 while Milan have won the Italian Cup five times, most recently in 2003.
Bologna earned a 3-0 first-leg advantage over Empoli in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; editing by Clare Fallon and Ed Osmond)
