AC Milan needed a Kaka second-half penalty to salvage a draw with Serie A bottom side Reggina in a tight game at the San Siro as they lost ground to neighbors Inter in the race for the Scudetto.
Kaka's second-half penalty was enough to grab a point for the Rossoneri after Reggina had taken the lead through former Milan forward Davide Di Gennaro.
It came as a relief for Carlo Ancelotti's men who had had to deal with a stubborn Reggina side, but that relief was tempered by the withdrawal of the Brazilian goalscorer shortly after he had scored from the spot.
On-loan midfielder David Beckham lined up in an XI that included two changes from the 3-0 win over Lazio with Ronaldinho coming in for Clarence Seedorf and Mathieu Flamini replacing Phillipe Senderos.
Ancelotti's side went into the match full of confidence after their win in Rome last week but knew they would have to be at their best to see off a Reggina side who had held Roma to a 1-1 stalemate at the Oreste Granillo.
Reggina started in a confident fashion and Francesco Cozza flashed a 40-yard free-kick in an early warning to Christian Abbiati in the Milan goal.
Flamini, filling in for the suspended Andrea Pirlo in the Milan midfield, then tried his luck from distance but Reggina keeper Andrea Campagnolo managed to parry his effort.
Kaka had a quiet first opening 10 minutes but he suddenly sprung into life in the 14th minute when he took a looping ball down on his chest before firing a wicked volley which brushed Andrea Campagnolo's right-hand post.
Di Gennaro had come through the youth ranks at Milan before being sold to Genoa and he showed the San Siro what he was capable of when he called Abbiati into making a superb save soon after.
Abbiati was powerless to stop Di Gennaro on 33 minutes, however, when the striker latched onto Bernardo Corradi's cross to fire a low left-foot drive into the bottom right hand corner to give the away side the lead.
Ancelotti ordered his men forward and Ronaldinho almost gave him an instant response but his curling shot from the edge of the box brushed a post.
The Brazilian threatened just after the break when he aimed a 25-yard shot at goal but Campagnolo scrambled across his box to tip it around the right post.
Kaka and Alexandre Pato started to look threatening up front for Milan and the former world player of the year saw his close-range shot saved by Campagnolo just before the hour.
Ancelotti threw on Seedorf to try to breathe some life into his side and he thought the move had paid off when the Dutchman slotted home after Kaka had hit the post but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Beckham had put an industrious performance in the Milan midfield and his pin-point cross found Paolo Maldini but the veteran defender could only head straight at Campagnolo from close range.
The Milan fans started getting frustrated with their side and Ancelotti responded by replacing the ineffective Ronaldinho with Filippo Inzaghi.
Their anger turned to relief just after the hour when Matej Krajcik upended Pato in the box and Kaka slotted the spot kick home to put Milan on terms.
Inzaghi wasted several chances laid on to him by Beckham late on and Milan had to settle for a draw that leaves them eight points behind Inter ahead of next weekend's Milan derby.
