AC Milan failed to extend their winning streak in Serie A last night, claiming just one point against Bologna at San Siro. While there are a few good stats to highlight from the clash, most of them are negative.
It was a tough evening for Stefano Pioli and his men, failing to claim all three points despite coming back from 0-1 behind. Besides Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s success, which is indeed worth highlighting, most of the key stats are negative for the Rossoneri. So let’s take a look.
An overall look
Because of the two penalties, Milan obviously had a very high XG in this clash at 3.12 compared to Bologna’s 1.88. All of the other important metrics, however, were rather even and certainly reflected the nature of the game.
The Rossoneri did well to come back from 0-1 behind to 2-1 ahead, but it’s clear that the missed penalties had a huge impact on the game. The question now is how much that will affect the team’s confidence, with Frosinone up next.
Penalty disaster
One can forgive a team for a missing penalty, but missing two in the same game is nothing short of a disaster. Milan were the first team to achieve this in Serie A since Carpi back in 2016, as highlighted by Opta, and there will surely be some penalty drills at Milanello next week.
Olivier Giroud is normally very confident from the spot, the same goes for Theo Hernandez, and this made the misses even more bizarre. Albeit not an excuse, it should be added that the Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski always has been good at penalties.
Loftus-Cheek’s 2024 success
The midfielder has had a flying start to the year with four goals in as many league games, named the MOTM in our player’s ratings for yesterday’s performance. He’s the midfielder with the most goals in Europe’s top five leagues this year, along with Empoli midfielder Zurkowski.
It goes without saying that Loftus-Cheek seemingly has found the perfect role at Milan, playing closer to the striker and the penalty box. Yesterday, he showcased great awareness by making his way into the box in the right moments, exploiting gaps in Bologna’s defence.
Winning run comes to an end
Milan’s winning streak in the league came to an end with the 2-2 draw, stopping at four games. The Rossoneri are still seven games unbeaten, though, and it will be important to bounce back immediately against Frosinone next weekend.
Bologna are certainly no pushovers, also drawing Inter 2-2 at San Siro, but Milan did indeed lose two points after failing to take their chances. Pioli will have to work with the players next week to make sure they are at their best mentally.
The details
AC Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria (59′ Florenzi), Kjær, Gabbia, Hernández; Adli (59′ Musah), Reijnders; Pulisic (87′ Terracciano), Loftus-Cheek, Leão (87′ Okafor); Giroud (60′ Jović). Subs: Mirante, Sportiello; Jiménez, Pellegrino, Simić; Zeroli; Traore. Coach: Pioli.
Bologna (4-3-3): Skorupski; De Silvestri (82′ Lucumí), Beukema, Calafiori, Kristiansen; Ferguson, Freuler, Aebischer (65′ Moro); Fabbian (82′ Orsolini), Zirkzee, Urbański (65′ Saelemaekers). Subs: Bagnolini, Ravaglia; Corazza, Ilić, Lykogiannis; Karlsson. Coach: Motta.
Referee: Massa from Imperia.
Goals: 29′ Zirkzee (B), 45′ and 83′ Loftus-Cheek (M), 90’+1 pen. Orsolini (B).
Booked: 2′ Calafiori (B), 22′ Leão (M), 36′ Calabria (M), 39′ Ferguson (B), 44′ Adli (M), 45’+2 Loftus-Cheek (M), 57′ Urbański (B), 90’+1 Terracciano (M).
Sent off: 41′ Motta (B).
Notes: 41′ Skorupski (B) saves Giroud’s (M) penalty, 75′ penalty missed by Hernández (M).
