AC Milan moved to within five points of the Serie A summit after a dominant 3-0 victory over Bologna, exposing the hosts’ growing crisis and underlining their own title credentials.
From the moment Ruben Loftus-Cheek opened the scoring in the 20th minute, the contest felt one-sided. Bologna had enjoyed plenty of the ball early on, but their possession lacked purpose, and Milan punished them the first time they failed to clear their lines. After Mike Ravaglia saved an initial effort, Adrien Rabiot reacted quickest, squaring for Loftus-Cheek to guide a composed finish into the net.
The Rossoneri smelled blood. Bologna’s confidence visibly drained, and their defensive uncertainty was laid bare again just before half-time. Christopher Nkunku darted into the area and cleverly drew a foul from Ravaglia, before calmly dispatching the resulting penalty to double Milan’s advantage and effectively settle the contest before the break.
Any lingering hope the home crowd had was extinguished almost immediately after the restart. A dreadful throw-in from Juan Miranda gifted possession straight to Rabiot, who took a touch, surged forward and slid a low finish beyond the goalkeeper to make it 3-0 inside three minutes of the second half.
From there, Milan were in full control. They dropped into a compact shape, soaked up Bologna’s harmless possession, and picked their moments to threaten on the break. The hosts’ attacking struggles were summed up by an expected goals figure of just 0.45 across the entire match, compared to Milan’s commanding 2.62.
Bologna’s misery deepens with a fifth defeat in six home games, their early-season promise now a distant memory. Milan, meanwhile, extend their Serie A unbeaten run to 22 matches and remain firmly in the hunt behind city rivals Inter.
With Pisa next on the schedule, Massimiliano Allegri’s side will believe momentum is firmly on their side. Bologna must regroup quickly, with a derby against Parma looming and a Coppa Italia quarter-final against Lazio offering both danger and opportunity.
