Milan throw away a perfectly good chance to get three points in a listless 0-0 draw at Bologna

AC Milan looked to put a bad performance last week in the Europa League behind them, as they traveled to Bologna to take on the Rossoblu at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. Milan had a chance to put more distance between them and Lazio, while a win would see Bologna escape the relegation zone. In the end, a scoreless draw was the result, and while Milan fans will be thankful that Bologna didn’t get a winner late on, it still speaks volumes about where the club wants to be versus where it actually is right now.

The first half was a bit of a flat affair, with only three attempts on goal from Milan and a lone attempt on goal from Bologna. Gonzalo Higuain had a couple decent chances, but Bologna’s keeper Łukasz Skorupski was up for the challenge, and did well to stop them.

Perhaps the best chance, however, came from Bologna, as Gigio Donnarumma did well to stop Rodrigo Palacio after Milan had made a mistake and turned the ball over. The turnover and the resulting shot pretty much summed up Milan’s half: Despite the vast bulk of possession, Milan couldn’t make it count when it was needed.

Milan showed some attacking intent at the start of the second half, with some good passing moves that resulted in a few good attacks, but once again, Milan had nothing to show for their intent.

Patrick Cutrone was withdrawn for Samu Castillejo in the 60th minute as Gattuso perhaps wanted to insert some pace in the match? Anyway, Castillejo came on in place of a striker in a 0-0 game.

Milan went down to 10 men in the 76th minute as Tiémoué Bakayoko saw red after getting a second yellow card. Bologna turned up the heat after Bakayoko went out, searching for a winning goal. However, Donnarumma and the rest of Milan would be up to the task, but with Franck Kessie also getting a yellow card, it will mean that Milan will be without both central midfielders going into this weekend’s match against Fiorentina.

In the end, Palacios tripped when he was clear on goal at the death before being flagged offsides, and that will perhaps be the lasting image of this listless draw that sees Milan throw away a good chance to put some distance at the top.