Win Against Bologna, AC Milan Cut the Points Gap with Inter Milan

AC Milan managed to cut the points gap with the leader of the standings, who is also a rival for one city, Inter Milan, after defeating Bologna 3-0 in an Italian Serie A match at the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium, Wednesday, February 4, 2026 early morning WIB.

Milan kept the competition going even though they were eight points behind Inter when visiting Bologna's home. Moreover, other teams are increasingly difficult to catch up with Inter. The defending champion Napoli, who are in second place, are nine points behind Inter.

Meanwhile, Juventus has been exhausted and is only trying to enter the top four to be able to get a ticket to the Champions League next season. By occupying fourth place, Juve is 10 points behind and it is not an easy job for coach Luciano Spalletti to hunt down I Nerazzurri who are on fire.

Milan became a competitor who tried to survive and overshadow the city neighbor. The hope of keeping the competition tight is at least still there after Milan conquered Bologna. A victory that is very meaningful because it is achieved at the opponent's home.

Not only that, coach Massimiliano Allegri lost some of the pillar players, Christian Pulisic, Alexis Saelemaekers and Santiago Gimenez. Likewise, Rafael Leao has just recovered from injury so he only sits on the bench.

The success of getting three points in the away match makes Milan have 50 points. They are still four points ahead of Napoli. Milan also cut the points gap with Inter.

However, the Rossoneri still have to work hard because they are still five points behind Inter who in the last match defeated Cremonese 2-0. The match was marked by a shameful incident from Inter fans because they threw mercon and cerawat onto the pitch which almost hit the goalkeeper of the Indonesian national team Emil Audero.

Bologna themselves failed to improve their ranking after losing points at home. However, they still survive in the middle of the table with 30 points.

In that match, Milan deployed the duo of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christopher Nkunku in the front line with a 3-5-2 playing scheme. Coach Allegri did not force Leao back to play as a 'false nine' because he had just recovered from an injury even though the Portuguese national team midfielder was already on the bench.

Not being able to field the best squad makes Milan a little late to the party. They were under pressure from Bologna for the first 15 minutes. At least, the team coached by Vincenzo Italiano has several free kicks and corner kicks. It's just that there's not a single chance that can be converted into a goal.

On the other hand, when Milan was able to get out of the pressure, they immediately played more aggressively. With an open game, Milan began to threaten the home team's defense. A good opportunity was obtained by Youssouf Fofana who received a cross pass from Zachary Athekame. Unfortunately, Fofana's header was still wide.

However, Milan didn't take long to break the deadlock. Just two minutes later or precisely in the 20th minute, Loftus-Cheek managed to break the Rossoblu's goal. It started with Milan's attack through Nkunku's header which could still be stopped by goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia.

Only, the goalkeeper failed to secure the ball which rebounded and fell at the feet of Adrien Rabiot. The French midfielder then gave the ball to Loftus-Cheek who finished it with a hard shot to beat the host's goal.

The 1-0 advantage made Milan more confident and they were more active in applying pressure. The duet of Nkunku and Loftus-Cheek was able to put pressure and even terrorize the Bologna defense. Their one-two cooperation again endangered the Bologna goal, forcing goalkeeper Ravaglia to bring Nkunku down in the penalty box.

The referee did not hesitate to point to the white dot. Although he had looked at it through VAR, the referee's decision did not change. Nkunku also successfully completed his execution after Ravaglia guessed the direction of the ball wrong. The goal from the penalty in the 39th minute changed the score to 2-0 for Milan. The score remained until the first half ended.

Entering the second half, Milan continued to play offensively. The match only lasted three minutes, Bologna defender Juan Miranda made a blunder when anticipating the ball from Milan's long pass.

He failed to control the ball and was successfully intercepted by Rabiot who then took him to the goal. In a one-on-one position, Rabiot fired a hard shot that went to the corner of the goal without being reached by goalkeeper Ravaglia.

The goal in the 48th minute gave Milan a 3-0 lead. Rabiot's goal made the match end faster. The reason is that Milan has lowered the tempo of the game. They just try to maintain the lead. The job was not difficult because Bologna's attack was not directed.

Since the beginning of the match when they dominated, there was not a single attack from Bologna that led to the goal. If it is not far away, the host's threat is very easy to secure goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Likewise, in a three-goal deficit, Bologna tried to dominate again. But there was no attack that endangered Maignan's goal.

On the other hand, Milan got another chance through substitute Niclas Fullkrug. Allegri chose to include this West Ham United loan player instead of Leao who was not fully fit.

Fullkrug had a chance when he cut the ball from Bologna defender Torbjorn Heggem. Only his shot that led to the goalkeeper could still be played. No goal was created and the score remained 3-0 until the end of the match.