Serie A: AC Milan beats Bologna and closes the gap on city rivals Inter

Adrien Rabiot scored one goal and scored another as AC Milan cruised to an impressive 3-0 Serie A victory over hosts Bologna on Tuesday to keep city rivals Inter Milan at the top of the table.

The win moved Milan into second place on 50 points from 23 games, five points behind leaders Inter. Bologna remained in 10th place with 30 points from 23 games.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek opened the scoring after 20 minutes, before Christopher Nkunku added the second goal from the penalty spot six minutes before half-time after being fouled by home goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia.

Rabiot was fantastic and scored the goal his performance deserved on 48 minutes when he made a defensive error to make it 3-0 in a dominant performance by the visiting side, keeping the title hunt alive.

Milan have lost just one of their 23 games in Serie A this season and never looked like losing this one as they took the lead from the start and created a number of excellent chances before breaking the deadlock.

Loftus-Cheek should have opened the scoring early on when he was one-on-one with Ravaglia, but hesitated at the crucial moment, allowing the keeper to dive to his feet and make the save.

But he got his goal after Bologna failed to clear the ball as Ravaglia could only parry Nkunku’s header and Loftus-Cheek headed home from 12 yards after being fed by Rabiot.

Milan were awarded a penalty after a smooth pass released Nkunku into the penalty area and he was brought down by Ravaglia for a clear penalty. Nkunku grabbed it himself and converted easily for his fifth goal in six Serie A games.

Although Bologna hoped for a change of fortune in the second half, those thoughts were quickly extinguished when Rabiot raced home a poor throw across his own penalty area from Juan Miranda three minutes after half-time and fired the ball easily into the net to make it 3-0.

Nkunku might have scored a fourth when he was clear on goal a few minutes later, but this time Ravaglia did enough to deter him as he tried to round the keeper.

Bologna had a rare chance ten minutes into the second period when Nicolo Casale had a clear shooting opportunity but missed his kick completely, in a moment that summed up the evening for the hosts.

Published on February 4, 2026