Bologna defeated Milan 4-2 at San Siro on Wednesday, coming from behind in the second half to leave the Rossoneri seventh points adrift of Inter and Lazio. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Bologna coach Raffaele Palladino changed the match with three substitutions just before the hour mark, while Milan counterpart Ruben Amorim's own adjustments made matters worse.
The result keeps Milan fifth. Bologna, who have taken ten points from twelve since Palladino took charge, climbed away from the lower reaches of the table.
Why it matters
La Gazzetta dello Sport framed the night as a lesson in tactics, game management and decision-making from Palladino to Amorim. The paper noted that the result arrives just before the Milan derby, and that Inter's win at Venezia means the derby does not start in comfortable circumstances for the Rossoneri. For Bologna, the win opens a run of fixtures against Monza, Parma, Udinese and Venezia that the paper suggested could allow them to keep moving up the standings.
Mbangula's hat-trick and a costly Milan error
Bologna took control inside the opening ten minutes, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. They dominated the wide areas, had a major chance through Federico Bernardeschi at the goalline, and then broke from right to left after Musah lost the ball high up: Pobega, Zortea and Mbangula combined for the opening goal.
Milan drew level through an error at the back. Theate mishandled possession under pressure from Hutchinson, and the ball reached Cisse alone in the box in an ideal position. La Gazzetta dello Sport described Cisse as a future Italy international under Mancini. Before the half-hour, Cisse scored again: Tomori, back in the side, got forward on the right and cut the ball into the middle for him.
The paper reported that Amorim set up in a 4-2-3-1, with Jashari dropping deeper to build play, Tomori at right-back, Bartesaghi pushed high on the left, and Ramos occupying defenders centrally so Cisse could find space on the left of centre. Bologna's shape, a 3-4-3 that shifted toward a 3-5-2, used man-marking in several areas — Darmian on Cisse, Bernardeschi against Estupiñan — with Odgaard as a false nine and Mbangula running into gaps.
The substitutions that decided it
Milan lost Tomori to injury, and La Gazzetta dello Sport judged Amorim's plan to have run out of ideas, with Modric in midfield and Musah at full-back. Palladino made his move on 59 minutes, bringing on Miranda and Cambiaghi on the right side and Vitik in defence. A minute later Miranda struck a dangerous free kick toward the goalline and Bartesaghi turned it past Maignan badly. Two minutes after that, Miranda and Cambiaghi combined to set up Mbangula for 3-2. The paper called Miranda's impact destructive.
Amorim responded with Pulisic and Diawara, then added Camarda after Bologna's two goals, leaving Milan in something like a 4-2-4 with Cisse, Ramos, Pulisic and Camarda up front. La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote that four forwards do not always produce goals and can unbalance a side, especially when the midfield stops screening the defence. Camarda was at fault twice: he headed a chance for 3-3 over, then lost the ball to start a Bologna counter that ended with Odgaard crossing from the right for Mbangula's third and Bologna's fourth.
The paper reported that Milan's fans whistled the team and that Amorim defended Camarda afterwards, a stance supporters online treated as a provocation. La Repubblica's player ratings said Ramos hid from the game and that Miranda changed it.
Milan remain fifth, seven points behind Inter and Lazio. Bologna have matched Como's points total over Palladino's five games in charge and sit one ahead of Roma over the same period.
Next up is the derby, where Amorim must decide whether his experiments continue amid absences that already include Rabiot, Gila, Moreira and Tomori.
