Inter and Milan all square after 1st leg of Coppa Italia semifinal

Inter Milan and AC Milan's Italian Cup semi-final was left finely balanced on Wednesday after the two giants of Italian football played out a 1-1 draw at the San Siro.

Hakan Calhanoglu's strike in the 67th minute made sure that Inter would head into the tie's second leg later this month with the score level.

Turkey captain Calhanoglu's low shot squirmed past Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan and cancelled out Tammy Abraham's brilliantly taken opener which was netted a minute after half-time.

Abraham's ninth goal of the season in all competitions came when his quick turn and drilled finish punished slack marking from Inter defender Yann Bisseck.

The winner of this tie will likely play Bologna in next month's final in Rome after Vincenzo Italiano's team comfortably beat Empoli 3-0 on Tuesday night.

Milan need something to cheer about more than Italian champions and current Serie A leaders Inter, who are chasing the treble ahead of their Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich.

Sergio Conceicao's Milan are ninth in Italy's top flight, 20 points behind Inter and nine from the Champions League positions.