AC Milan rescued a late draw against Inter as Christopher Nkunku's penalty secured a 1-1 stalemate in pre-season.

Federico Dimarco's simple finish earlier in the second half looked set to give Inter bragging rights over their rivals, but Nkunku both won and scored a penalty in the 84th minute as the spoils were shared at Optus Stadium.

Milan started on the front foot as Ruben Loftus-Cheek created two brilliant chances, though the first was poked wide by Alphadjo Cisse before Yunus Musah hit the left post with a first-time strike in the 18th minute.

Inter grew as the first half wore on as both Francesco Pio Esposito and Piotr Zielinski tested Lorenzo Torriani with volleys on the stroke of half-time, and Cristian Chivu's side were ahead seven minutes after the break.

Nicolo Barella was played down the right side of the box and his low centre across the face of goal was turned in by Dimarco, whose run into the six-yard box went unnoticed by the Milan defenders.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan failed to direct his lunging effort on target, while Torriani pushed away a low drive from Matteo Lavelli just after the hour mark, and Inter were made to pay for their wastefulness late on.

Milan won a penalty late on as Nkunku was brought down by Carlos Augusto, and the Frenchman fired past Ivan Provedel with what was the last clear-cut chance of the derby.

Dimarco and Barella lead by example for Inter

Chivu will certainly be disappointed not to defeat rivals Milan, especially producing 2.34 expected goals (xG) to the Rossoneri's 1.39, which was inflated by their late spot-kick after a controversial call by the referee.

With Lautaro Martinez still yet to return from his extended break, Dimarco and Barella both continued to step up for Inter, as they also impressed in their previous friendly against Manchester City.

This time around, Dimarco recorded the most touches in the box for his side (seven), attempted the most crosses (four) and recorded the most interceptions (three), while Barella led the way for Inter in chances created (four), duels won (5/10), and tackles won (3/3).

There was some cause for concern late on for Chivu, as Yann Bisseck required assistance to walk off the pitch as he suffered a head injury following a collision with Pervis Estupinan in stoppage time.

Goncalo Ramos, meanwhile, made his first appearance for the Rossoneri, but failed to make an impact off the bench as he recorded just one shot, which did not hit the target.