Massimiliano Allegri hailed the standout quality of AC Milan duo Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christopher Nkunku after their star performances against Bologna.

Milan beat Bologna 3-0 on Tuesday, moving them four points clear of Napoli to consolidate second place in Serie A.

Loftus-Cheek opened the scoring in the 20th minute, before Nkunku netted a spot-kick prior to half-time.

Adrien Rabiot, who teed up Loftus-Cheek's opener, made sure of the points in the second half.

Rabiot has scored four goals and set up four more in Serie A this term. He is one of only two midfielders to have netted at least four times and provided at least four assists in the competition this season, along with Nico Paz (eight goals, six assists).

But it was Loftus-Cheek and Nkunku who received special praise from Allegri.

Allegri told DAZN: "Nkunku and Loftus-Cheek are players of enormous quality.

"It was always going to be a game that we needed to take seriously, because they have been very decent at the back. Bologna are a dangerous team that plays well. The boys did well defensively and offensively.

"It was a good game tonight. In my opinion, we have to do better in ball management. We played well because Nkunku and Loftus-Cheek did well, allowing us to play with the ball and giving us depth."

Nkunku has scored five goals in his last six league appearances, as many as he scored in his previous 48 games across Serie A and the Premier League.

Loftus-Cheek, meanwhile, has scored more Serie A goals against Bologna (three) than he has against any other teams in the competition.

Milan have now reached 50 points in Serie A. They have achieved it after 23 games – it is only the third time since 1994-95 that they have reached the milestone after 23 matches (previously in 2003-04 and 1995-96).

"It was important for us to get to 50 points for the season because our goal has always been to reach the top four," Allegri added.

"We defended very well from 3-0, not conceding is always good. It's more important to look ahead, because it's a long season and we still need a lot more points to qualify for the Champions League.

"We'll enjoy this break, because we’re not playing on Sunday, and will hope to have all our players available again."