Rome  - A spot kick from Kaka late Saturday levelled a goal from former AC Milan forward Davide Di Gennaro as the Devils were held to a 1-1 home draw against Serie A tail-enders Reggina.

The result was good news for leaders Inter Milan, who earlier Saturday had Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Portugal veteran Luis Figo and Serbian midfielder Dejan Stankovic on target in a 3-0 crushing of Lecce.

Ibra is now on 14 goals, just one behind Bologna's top scorer Marco Di Vaio, while Inter lead on 53 points from 23 games. Milan trail on 45 points ahead of a high-voltage city derby set for next weekend at the Giuseppe Meazza.

The young Di Gennaro gave his former club a big displeasure when he put Reggina ahead on 33 minutes, slamming a loose ball into the lower left corner past the helpless Christian Abbiati.

The Devils pressed forward, but created few chances in the first half, save two harmless drives from Frenchman Mathieu Flamini and a feeble overhead kick attempted by Brazil star Kaka.

Czech Marek Jankulovski also had his effort saved on 22 minutes, while Brazilian Ronaldinho, who returned after a long period spent on the bench, fired wide before the break after leaving three defenders standing.

Di Gennaro threatened again when he fired wide on 53 minutes, but Milan equalized on 67 through a penalty kick awarded when Slovak Matej Krajcik floored Pato.

Despite having played below his par, Kaka took the penalty and converted it flawlessly to score his 11th goal this season, but left the pitch limping a few minutes later.

A good chance went begging for the hosts on 73 minutes as veteran Filippo Inzaghi came on and nodded high by a hairsbreadth off a good cross from the in-form David Beckham.

Nothing came from Jankulovski's central header on 81 minutes, nor from the relentless attacks of the Devils, who almost fell behind when Bernardo Corradi fired wide in the dying seconds.

Third-placed Juventus hope be seven point adrift from Inter Sunday after they play a tough game at Sicily hosts Catania. (dpa)