April 05, (THEWILL) – Milan were held to a 0-0 draw by Bologna at San Siro, losing potentially critical points in their drive to win Serie A.
The Rossoneri headed into the international break with a three-point lead after three straight 1-0 victories, but they were unable to continue their winning streak on Monday.
Bologna, whose coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, was not present on the touchline due to his leukaemia treatment, limited Stefano Pioli’s squad to few clear chances in their manager’s 100th league match in charge, much to the disappointment of an anticipating Milan crowd.
Milan’s lead has been trimmed to just one point with seven games remaining after Napoli and Inter both triumphed on Sunday.
Rafael Leao had the first chance of the game 16 minutes in, but he could not keep his shot down.
Following Marko Arnautovic’s excellent dummy, Michel Aebischer drilled straight at Mike Maignan, before Milan’s goalkeeper pushed Musa Barrow’s effort over after Gary Medel had made a wonderful block at the other end.
The active defending that Bologna displayed in the first half continued in the second as they frustrated their opponents, although Leao was particularly wasteful, first skewing a cross out of play before failing to score when he had space.
In the 61st minute, Leao produced a superb ball for Davide Calabria, but Medel only managed to redirect the full-shot back’s beyond — a touch the referee missed when he awarded a goal kick.
As Milan piled on the pressure, Ante Rebic blazed over, and Leao again curled wide from just inside the box.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was brought in 20 minutes before time to make a difference, but the veteran headed over the only chance he had as Milan were held to a goalless stalemate and the loss of two significant points.
Milan now have a one-point lead at the top of Serie A, with Napoli and Inter uncomfortably close behind. Meanwhile, Bologna is still in 12th place.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
