Rangers blow two-goal lead

Rangers 2 AC Milan 2

Rangers were forced to settle for a draw against AC Milan after watching their two-goal advantage crumble.

The Ibrox side took the lead after 15 minutes through Ronald de Boer before Claudio Caniggia added the second three minutes before the break.

But Jon Dahl Tomasson pulled a goal back for the Serie A side on the half-time whistle and they upped the tempo after the interval.

Their hard work eventually paid off 10 minutes before the end when substitute Marco Borriello slotted home to clinch a draw.

The home support were treated to the sight of new signing Mikel Arteta in a Rangers jersey for the first time, although fellow new-boy Kevin Muscat - who is set to make his debut against Linfield on Tuesday night - was missing from the line-up.

AC Milan, too, did not disappoint with their starting XI - which included household names such as Paolo Maldini, Andrei Shevchenko, Clarence Seedorf and former Rangers player Rino Gattuso.

The fiery Italian spent two years at Ibrox and, during that time, became something of a cult hero at the club until his return to his homeland but his hard tackling on new boy Arteta succeeded only in incensing the crowd.

Rangers took the lead after 15 minutes. Peter Lovenkrands made a good run down the left wing before flighting a cross into the path of Ronald De Boer and the Dutchman nodded home the opener from just outside the six-yard box.

The home side could have doubled their lead just a few seconds later when Barry Ferguson’s pass was met by Caniggia but his effort was easily held by goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.

With just three minutes to the break, Rangers added to their tally. An Arteta corner was met by Amoruso who played the ball to de Boer. The Dutchman flicked on to Caniggia who sidefooted the ball home from just a couple of yards out.

But Milan managed to pull a goal back right on the half-time whistle when Andrea Pirlo crossed the ball into the path of Tomasson who nodded past goalkeeper Stefan Klos.

Clearly lifted by that goal, AC Milan were by far the stronger side in the opening stages of the second half and Rangers were forced to rely largely on Klos to hold onto their slim lead.

The German was called into action 10 minutes after the restart when Shevchenko played the ball into the path of substitute Christian Brocchi, who looked certain to net, but he was denied by a fine save from the German.

Four minutes later, Tomasson came close to grabbing his second goal of the day but, once again, Klos produced an impressive block to deny the Dane.

The Rangers goalkeeper was quickly becoming the busiest person on the park and he did well to touch Brocchi’s 20-yard drive just past the upright after 77 minutes.

Milan’s pressure was bound to pay off sooner or later and they grabbed the leveller with 10 minutes remaining. Ibrahim Ba was the provider and he set up Marco Borriello to slot home.