AC Milan hit back from two goals behind and equalised with the last kick of the game to force an extraordinary 2-2 draw against Inter Milan as the historic derby was played at lunchtime for the first time and with both clubs under Chinese ownership.

Inter appeared to be cruising after Antonio Candreva and Mauro Icardi scored to give them a 2-0 halftime lead before Alessandro Romagnoli pulled one back with seven minutes left.

Milan then won a corner in the seventh minute of stoppage-time, Inter failed to clear and Cristian Zapata at the far post managed to force the ball back towards goal.

It hit the underside of the crossbar and was hooked away by Gary Medel but the referee, aided by goal technology, signalled that the ball had crossed the line, prompting wild celebrations among the Milan players.

There was not even time for the game to restart.

The result kept AC Milan sixth in Serie A, inside the European places, while Inter stayed outside in seventh, two points behind their rivals.

The match was played less than 48 hours after Milan were sold to a Chinese-led consortium in a 740 million-euro ($788 million) deal, following in the footsteps of Inter who have been owned by retail giant Suning Commerce Group since June.

The lunchtime kickoff, the first in 218 meetings of the old rivals, was designed for the Asian television market, though criticised by local fans. Media reports predicted a potential worldwide television audience of 862 million viewers.