MILAN – AC Milan missed the chance to pull three points clear at the top of Serie A as it was held to a 0-0 draw by Bologna.
The result left Milan just one point ahead of second-place Napoli with seven matches remaining. Defending champion Inter Milan was four points behind its city rival but having played a match fewer.
Milan had 33 efforts on goal but couldn’t break the deadlock. The Rossoneri have managed 69 attempts in its past three matches but only scored twice.
“It´s easy to analyze the match, we couldn´t manage to find the spark to get the ball into the net,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said according to AP. “It wasn´t a mental block, or pressure … we were just lacking in the final 20 meters, unfortunately it´s a period where we are creating a lot but we´re not being clinical.”
It was Bologna´s first match since Coach Sinisa Mihajlovi’c returned to hospital for treatment for leukaemia. He beat the disease in 2019.
Mihajlovi´c briefly coached Milan six years ago and there was message of support for him on the big screens before the match.
Bologna hasn´t scored a goal since February, the same round in which Milan last conceded a goal, but it was the visitors who had the better of the early chances with Rossoneri goalkeeper Mike Maignan forced into a number of saves including a fantastic one to fingertip a scorching shot from Musa Barrow over the bar.
Milan had chances of its own and Theo Hernández sent a powerful effort just past the right post in the 33rd minute.
It went even closer on the stroke of halftime with a towering header from Olivier Giroud, which was stopped by Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski.
Milan should have broken the deadlock in the 61st but Davide Calabria´s shot was deflected just past the far post by a last-ditch sliding tackle from Bologna defender Gary Medel.
Zlatan Ibrahimovi´c, who is returning from injury, was brought on with 20 minutes remaining but the veteran Milan forward was unable to change the result.
Ibrahimovi´c was left bleeding and finished the match heavily bandaged after a clash of heads with Medel, who was unable to continue.
Relegation-threatened Genoa suffered its first defeat under coach Alexander Blessin as it lost 1-0 at Hellas Verona.
Genoa had drawn seven matches and won one since Blessin replaced Andriy Shevchenko in January.
Giovanni Simeone netted in the fifth minute as he just beat a defender to a through ball and poked it in at full stretch for his 16th league goal of the season.
Gianluca Caprari also saw a curled effort finger tipped onto the right post by Genoa goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu.
Genoa remained three points from safety.
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