MILAN (AP) — Zlatan Ibrahimović missed a penalty but AC Milan won 2-1 at Bologna on Saturday to bounce back from a disappointing week and remain top of Serie A.
Ante Rebić fired home the rebound after Ibrahimović’s penalty kick was saved and Franck Kessié doubled Milan’s lead early in the second half. Former Milan midfielder Andrea Poli reduced the deficit nine minutes from time.
Milan remained two points clear of second-place Inter Milan, which beat Benevento 4-0. Juventus is third, seven points behind Milan, after winning 2-0 at Sampdoria.
Bologna remained six points off the relegation zone.
Milan had lost its last two matches, including a midweek defeat to Inter in the Italian Cup quarterfinals which saw Ibrahimović sent off.
Milan almost took an early lead in Bologna but Łukasz Skorupski did well to tip Theo Hernández’s effort onto the crossbar.
The Bologna goalkeeper then pulled off a sensational double save against Ibrahimović and managed to parry the Milan forward’s spot kick but Rebić netted the follow-up to give his side the lead in the 26th minute.
Ibrahimović has missed five of his last 10 penalties for Milan.
Bologna defender Mitchell Dijks had conceded the penalty by blatantly hauling over Rafael Leão.
Bologna came close to the equalizer but then gave away another careless penalty when defender Adama Soumaoro touched the ball with both his hands
This time Kessié stepped up and hit it straight down the middle.
Poli set up a nervy finale when he fired Andreas Skov Olsen’s cross into the top right corner, two minutes after coming off the bench. Bologna almost leveled shortly after but Gianluigi Donnarumma kept out Roberto Soriano with a brilliant flying save.
LUKAKU AT THE DOUBLE
Romelu Lukaku scored twice to help Inter Milan keep pace with its city rival in the title race.
Inter took the lead in the seventh minute when Benevento forward Riccardo Improta deflected Christian Eriksen’s free kick into the back of the net.
It took the Nerazzurri until the 57th to double its lead through Lautaro Martínez.
Lukaku all but sealed the match following an error from the Benevento defense 10 minutes later and got his second of the night after a great assist from Alexis Sánchez.
CLINICAL CHIESA
Federico Chiesa scored for the second straight match for Juventus.
The 23-year-old Chiesa finished off a well-worked team move in the 20th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo picked out Álvaro Morata on the right flank and he rolled the ball across for Chiesa to tap it into the back of the net.
Chiesa also scored in Juve’s 4-0 win over Spal in the Italian Cup on Wednesday.
Aaron Ramsey doubled Juventus’ lead in stoppage time in another move started by Ronaldo. Ramsey had only come on as a substitute in the 83rd.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
