Rabiot stars as AC Milan closes gap on Inter
Adrien Rabiot scored one goal and laid on another as AC Milan eased to a commanding 3-0 Serie A victory over Bologna to keep the heat on its city rival Inter at the top of the table.
The win takes second-placed Milan to 50 points from their 23 games, five points behind Inter. Bologna stays in 10th place with 30 points from 23 games.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek opened the scoring after 20 minutes before Christopher Nkunku added the second from the penalty spot six minutes before the break after he had been fouled by home goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia.
Rabiot was superb and got the goal his performance deserved on 48 minutes when he latched onto a defensive error to make it 3-0 in a dominant display from the visitors that keeps them in the hunt for the title.
Milan has still only lost one of its 23 Serie A games this season, and never looked like losing this one as it was on the front foot from the start and created several chances before it did break 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 at his feet and make the save.
But he did get his goal after Bologna failed to clear when Ravaglia could only parry Nkunku's header and Loftus-Cheek side-footed home from 12 yards after being fed by Rabiot.
Milan was awarded a penalty after some slick passing put Nkunku free in the box and he was brought down by Ravaglia for a clear spot-kick. Nkunku took it himself and converted easily for his fifth goal in six Serie A games.
If Bologna was hoping for a change in fortunes in the second half, those thoughts were quickly extinguished as three minutes after the break, Rabiot raced onto a poor throw across his own box by Juan Miranda and easily slotted the ball into the net for 3-0.
Nkunku might have scored a fourth when he found himself clear on goal a few minutes later, but this time Ravaglia did enough to put him off as he tried to round the keeper.
Bologna had a rare opportunity 10 minutes into the second period when Nicolo Casale had a clear shooting chance, but completely missed his kick in a moment that summed up the night for the host.
