Norwegian midfielder Jens Petter Hauge snatched a late equaliser to salvage a point for title-chasing AC Milan whose poor home run continued with a 1-1 draw against 10-man Sampdoria on Saturday. Atalanta and Napoli closed the gap on second-placed Milan with hard fought wins over Udinese and Crotone. Milan are five points behind leaders Inter Milan, who travel to Bologna later on Saturday with two games in hand on their city rivals. "At this moment Inter have the Scudetto (league title) in their hands, only they can lose it," said Milan coach Stefano Pioli, whose side have not won at home in almost two months. Atalanta moved two points behind Milan into third position with Napoli two points further back in fourth, one ahead of fifth-placed Juventus ahead of the champions' city derby at Torino later on Saturday. "Milan have complicated life for themselves," continued Pioli of the missed opportunity against mid-table Sampdoria. "When mentally you can't get into the game right away then the difficulties of the match increase. Today we paid dearly." 

Sampdoria dominated the first half an hour with Milan staying in the game thanks to saves from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who denied Manolo Gabbiadini early and a Morten Thorsby header. The hosts were on the back foot after a foolish Theo Hernandez pass across midfield after 57 minutes allowed veteran Fabio Quagliarella to pounce and send a long-range lob over Donnarumma who was out of his goal. It was the 38-year-old Quagliarella's 10th goal this campaign, reaching double figures for the fifth consecutive league season, with his 174 Serie A goals making him the top scorer active in the Italian top flight. Claudio Ranieri's side went a man down just after their goal with Adrien Silva sent off after picking up a second yellow card.