Bologna 2 - 4 AC Milan: Milan ride their luck in 6-goal thriller

AC Milan hit the Serie A (SA) summit, if only for 24 hours, as they narrowly beat nine-man Bologna 4-2 away from home to extend the hosts' long wait for a victory over the 18-time Italian champions to over 20 years.

Bologna made a surprisingly fast start at the Renato Dall'Ara Stadium and Marko Arnautović had a golden opportunity to fire the hosts in front, but he headed wide from Aaron Hickey’s corner. Moments later, the hosts were made to pay as Zlatan Ibrahimović freed Rafael Leão down the left, and the Portugal international thundered past Łukasz Skorupski with the help of a Gary Medel deflection.

 Bologna’s evening went from bad to worse when Adama Soumaoro brought down Rade Krunić as he raced through on goal, and referee Paolo Valeri didn’t hesitate in dismissing the Frenchman.

With a man advantage, Milan pressed for a second and found it in the form of Davide Calabria, who thundered home from the edge of the area after Samu Castillejo’s original effort was blocked. Incredibly, it was the ‘Rossoblù’ who drew first blood after the break when Musa Barrow’s whipped corner was inadvertently flicked into his own net by Ibrahimović to halve Bologna’s arrears. Milan were clearly rattled and their opponents’ recovery was complete soon after, with Barrow latching onto Roberto Soriano’s delicate ball to score for the fourth SA game in succession.

The pendulum swung back in Milan’s favour moments later when Bologna were reduced to nine men, a Soriano horror tackle leaving Fodé Ballo-Touré in a heap. Valeri had no choice but to dismiss the Italian, who trudged off no doubt fearing his teammates would be facing a 30-minute Milan onslaught.

 In the end, defensive midfielder Ismaël Bennacer ensured Milan made their two-man advantage count, striking a sweet volley past Skorupski. Ibrahimović added insult to injury by netting a fourth in the dying moments to wrap up the points and keep the visitors’ chances of claiming a first Scudetto since 2011 firmly alive.