Milan vs Bologna 0-0: Rossoneri Slow Down Again

A disappointing Milan side rued wasted chances as they were not able to overcome Bologna at the San Siro in the Serie A Monday night game. The matched was scoreless and the Rossoneri thus saw their lead over Napoli and Inter reducing to one point and four points respectively – with the Nerazzurri still having one game in hand. Now, this is an exciting Scudetto race.   

Bologna, who don’t have anything more to ask to their season, played with pride and salvaged a point that will make their boss Sinisa Mihajlovic happy. The Serbian coach, who has restarted his battle against leukemia, could not be on the Rossoblu‘s bench but followed the game from the hospital and gave instructions via phone to his second-in-command Miroslav Tanjga.

Stefano Pioli confirmed the lineup that had beaten Cagliari before the international break with the only exception of Sandro Tonali replacing Frank Kessié at midfield. The Rossoneri were inefficient upfront and not even Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late entrance could spark an offensive reaction on the red-and-black’s part.

Bologna lined up in a 3-5-2 fashion where Musa Barrow supported Marko Arnautovic on the front line. The Rossoblu were anything but timorous at the San Siro and gave Mike Maignan quite a few reasons for concern. The French shot-stopper, though, confirmed his excellent run of form and denied Michel Aebischer and then, more decisively, Barrow in the first half.

Milan’s clearest chance before the break came from an Olivier Giroud header which Lukasz Skorupski brilliantly saved to keep the score unchanged. 

Pioli tried to reshuffle his offensive cards after the restart as he put in Ante Rebic for Junior Messias. The move seemed to work initially as the Croat called Skorupski to another difficult save and then offered a precious assist to Davide Calabria, whose shot narrowly missed the target.

However, Milan’s attacks became less effective as minutes went by and Bologna understood that salvaging a point at the San Siro was not a bad idea after all. The Rossoblu switched to a more defensive setup and tried to punish the Rossoneri only with some occasional, vain counterattack. Milan’s late assault was chaotic and the Bologna fort did hold until the end – also thanks to Skorpuski’s last-gasp save from a Rebic close-range header during stoppage time.

Bologna won a point for Mihajlovic, whereas Milan lost two that could cost them a lot in the thrilling race for the Italian title.  

 

MATCH SCORECARD

April 4, 2021 – Serie A 2021-2022 Round 31
MILAN – BOLOGNA 0-0