Milan outlast Bologna in a 2-1 win at the San Siro

AC Milan went into this home match looking to grab all three points and work themselves back into the race for the final Champions League spot while Bologna needed points to further guarantee themselves Serie A safety.

In the end, despite having a chance to throw away the victory, Milan came out on top and are only three points away from a Champions League spot after goals from Suso and Fabio Borini saw them win another match at the San Siro.

Hakan Calhanoglu had a shot saved in the 10th minute, as his long-range shot was put out of touch for a corner kick. Milan came close again after a few more corner kicks, as both Cristian Zapata and Mateo Musacchio both had good headers in the six yard box go wide from shots that really probably should have at least tested the keeper.

Bologna struck back on a counter attack, but Donnarumma did very well to save Riccardo Orsolini’s shot after the Bologna forward was running free at the Milan goal.

Just after Lucas Biglia had to leave due to injury, former Argentina international Rodrigo Palacio beat Donnarumma at the far post after getting free down Milan’s right hand side, beating everyone else to put a free shot on net, however it was ruled, correctly, that Palacio was offside when the ball was played to him.

Jose Mauri coming on in place of Biglia seemed to be a questionable decision from Gattuso, although it was reported that Bakayoko reported said that he was unable to go in, which is maddening if true, while other reports say that Gattuso put Mauri in as further punishment to the Chelsea loanee. Either way, this nonsense has to end, as Bakayoko has been a key player for the club when he is in the lineup and this whole disagreement seems rather silly.

Of course while the drama had been going on between Gattuso and Bakayoko, the match was still being played and Suso stepped up and put a shot on goal right past the keeper for his first goal since January.

The rest of the half ended without much incident, and Milan look a little relived to be in front, however Bologna had only been denied by a brilliant save from Donnarumma and the offside flag.

Calhanoglu had another shot that was close in the 51st minute, as he was free near the top of the box. The Turkey international had been played into a shooting position by Paquetà, but his shot skimmed over the bar.

Fabio Borini was brought in yet again, however this time he paid back his manager’s faith in him by scoring Milan’s second goal of the match in the 67th minute. Łukasz Skorupski wasn’t able to hang onto a shot from Paquetà and Borini did well to follow up on the loose ball in the box and smash the ball home.

Mattia Destro got a goal back for Bologna a few minutes after Borini had extended the Milan’s lead after he was free in front of goal and played onside. Not a lot that Donnarumma could have done about the goal, and suddenly flashbacks to previous meltdowns that have occurred earlier in the season started to dance in the minds of the Rossoneri.

Only minutes after allowing Bologna a lifeline, Paquetà lost his mind after getting yellow carded after a hard challenge on the sideline by Erick Pulgar and Paquetà’s reaction to the referee decision resulted in the referee giving the Brazil international a second yellow for dissent and sent the midfielder off. Milan had to see out the rest of the game down to 10 men, as Donnarumma made a number of key saves to keep Bologna off the board.

The referee continued to have a bad day at the office, showing red to two Bologna players right before and after the final whistle. Some of the Bologna players seemed to take issue with the referee’s decisions in the final minutes of the match, and their objections were met with cards as the referee, instead of Milan, seemed to have a meltdown in the end.

All’s well that ends well, although the issues between Bakayoko and Gattuso are sure to linger for the rest of the season, so here’s hoping that Biglia is able to play after picking up a knock in today’s match. If reports about the disagreement between Bakayoko and the boss are to be believed then Bakayoko may have already played his last match in Rossoneri colors.

The match might have been won on the pitch, but the actions off the pitch, including Paquetà getting a red card, will surely be the talking points until Milan take on Fiorentina this upcoming weekend.