AC Milan admitted defeat with a score of 1-2 in a visit to Bologna’s headquarters. The Rossoneri performed disappointingly in the back line and had to swallow bad results.
Friday, February 28, 2025, Milan visited Bologna at Renato Dall’Ara in the 26th week of Serie A 2024/2025. Victory is a must for Milan to continue trying to climb into the top four.
This time, Milan actually took the lead through Rafael Leao’s goal in the 43rd minute, but Bologna then turned the score around through Santiago Castro (48′) and Dan Ndoye (82′).
This defeat left Milan stuck in 8th place in the Italian League standings this season, two levels below Bologna who were still better in terms of points collection.
Santiago Gimenez immediately threatened Bologna’s goal when the match had only been going on for 22 seconds, but his shot soared after receiving a pass from Yunus Musah. Shortly afterwards, Malick Thiaw almost scored an own goal when Benjamin Dominguez’s cutback deflected wide of the goal.
Musah tried his luck again with a shot at the near post that was saved by Lukasz Skorupski, while Dan Ndoye failed to capitalise on a counter-attacking opportunity after firing wide. The referee allowed plenty of physical contact on the pitch, including several penalty claims from Ndoye and Youssouf Fofana that were waved away.
Dominguez showed his skill by skipping past Alex Jimenez before unleashing a shot that forced a difficult save from Mike Maignan at the near post. However, it was Milan who managed to score first on the stroke of half-time.
Starting from a long pass from Maignan, Gimenez managed to touch the ball for Rafael Leao to continue. With his speed, Leao ran through the Bologna defense, fooled Skorupski, and calmly slotted the ball into an empty net.
Bologna immediately responded early in the second half. Starting from a free kick directed by Lorenzo De Silvestri to Giovanni Fabbian, the ball that bounced unexpectedly fell to the feet of Santiago Castro. Without hesitation, Castro finished the chance from close range. Milan thought the goal would be disallowed for an alleged handball by Fabbian, but VAR confirmed there was no foul.
Musah almost put Milan back in front after passing Joao Miranda in a wonderful individual action, but Skorupski was again alert to block his shot. Miranda himself almost scored when he released a shot from outside the penalty box which only soared slightly over the crossbar.
Milan then had a golden opportunity through Luka Jovic’s header, but the ball went weakly into Skorupski’s arms. Bologna almost turned the score around when Nicolò Casale’s header hit the goalpost, and Nicolò Cambiaghi who pounced on the rebound actually kicked it slightly too high.
Bologna finally secured the win after Jimenez failed to anticipate a throw-in, giving Cambiaghi the opportunity to send a cross from the end line. Ndoye who was in front of the goal did not waste the opportunity and successfully scored the winning goal from close range. Milan had to accept the bitter reality of losing at home in a match that was full of drama.
