AC Milan were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at home to bottom side Verona in Serie A on Sunday, as the Rossoneri dropped points against a team in the relegation zone for the second week running.

Milan grabbed a 52nd-minute lead at the San Siro through Colombia striker Carlos Bacca but Verona, who are still without a win this season, levelled with a Luca Toni penalty that followed the dismissal of Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong just five minutes later.

Following last week's goalless draw at Carpi, Sinisa Mihajlovic's side have won just one of their last five matches and lie in seventh place, 11 points adrift of city rivals and leaders Inter Milan.

Empoli continued their climb up the table with a 3-0 victory at home to second-from-bottom Carpi as Massimo Maccarone scored twice either side of Riccardo Saponara's goal to send the hosts to a third straight win.

Meanwhile, Slovenian midfielder Valter Birsa's 76th-minute strike steered Chievo to a 1-0 win over Atalanta.

Later, Roma will bid to reignite their faltering title challenge against third-placed Napoli before resurgent champions Juventus put their five-match winning streak on the line against second-placed Fiorentina, who trail Inter by four points.