Bologna held 10-man AC Milan 0-0 at a freezing Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Tuesday evening, in a match the Rossoneri dominated.
For the majority of the match Gennaro Gattuso’s men were on top, but were unable to fashion and real opportunities, with life being made more difficult after Tiemoue Bakayoko’s red card 14 minutes from time.
However, the point did move Milan two ahead of Lazio in the race for Champions League football, with Bologna still in the relegation zone, one point behind Udinese who lie 17th in the Serie A table.
Initially the match was a scrappy affair, with neither side making any headway and chances at a premium.
Milan though, looked the more likely and Hakan Calhanglu put two efforts from distance wide, while Gonzalo Higuain fired straight at Lukas Skorupski from the edge to the penalty area.
At the other end, a mistake from Davide Calabria gave the ball to Rodrigo Palacio, who then tested Gianluigi Donnarumma from distance, but the Milan goalkeeper made a good stop.
After finishing the first half with 72 percent possession, Milan started the second well and went close through Calhanoglu who had an effort from distance go wide once more.
Despite dominating the match, Milan saw things go against them when Bakayoko was sent off after collecting two cards.
The tide turned and it was Bologna who dominated their opponents for the remainder of the game, and Riccardo Orsolini forced a brilliant reaction save from Donnarumma.
NO PRECISION
For all their possession and territorial advantage over Bologna, Milan were awful in the final third once again managing four shots on target over the 90 minutes, but none of those efforts really troubled Skorupski in the Rossoblu goal. It’s an all too familiar pattern for Gattuso’s men. The Higuain-Cutrone tandem was unleashed once again and once again they looked lost beside each other. Before the match, Gattuso asked for more from Higuain, but he never got it, as the Argentine was expertly marshalled by the Bologna backline. Suso and Calhanoglu were as good as anonymous with zero support through the centre from Kessie or Bakoyoko. Milan might be in fourth just now, but unless they find some kind of rhythm that won’t last come the end of the season.
