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Five big talking points as Milan eventually prevail over Bologna

Sumeet Paul

AC Milan secured all three points at Bologna on Saturday, but we were made to work with Ismael Bennacer and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring late goals.

The Rossoneri looked in complete control at half-time with a two-goal lead and the hosts having been reduced to 10 men.

READ MORE: Milan player ratings vs Bologna: Bennacer, Ibrahimovic lead Rossoneri to win

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However, a slow start to the second half was punished as Bologna drew level, but after they were handed a second red card, it took Milan time before eventually finding the breakthroughs to secure all three points.

The win moves us top of the Serie A table temporarily, while it extends our impressive start to the domestic season as we go in search of the Scudetto this year.

Ballo-Toure improvement

After a couple of worrying performances in our last two games, question marks were raised in some quarters over whether or not Fode Ballo-Toure could act as a reliable back-up option for Theo Hernandez.

Fortunately, he produced a much-improved performance in this one to offer more hope, and although it wasn’t perfect by any means, it was certainly a step in the right direction.

The Milan management clearly saw something in him to warrant our summer swoop, and so it’s hoped that he’s ready to continue to improve and develop his game to push Hernandez even when he returns.

Bennacer comes up big

Although he struggled at times in the first half, Bennacer shook off a slow start in the second to emerge as a driving force in our victory.

Not only was he constantly looking to get on the ball in advanced positions to whip in deliveries into the box to try and find a breakthrough, he was also driving forward from midfield to get us up the pitch with intent and urgency.

He eventually produced a cutting edge to his play as he drilled home our third to restore our lead, and then provided an assist for our fourth to help wrap things up.

Good and bad with Leao

It was another positive outing in the first half as aside from his goal, he was using his pace and movement to good effect to cause Bologna problems down their right flank.

However, much like the rest of the team, he switched off after the half-time break and disappeared from the game in the second half.

It’s hard to switch it on and off in a game with such intensity, and so just as Leao is starting to show real growth and development as well as consistency in the final third, as a leading figure in the side especially with the current injury situation, he can’t take halves off like on Saturday.

Ibrahimovic produces big moments

It was important to give Ibrahimovic minutes as he continues to work back to his best following his recent spell on the sidelines due to injury.

While he wasn’t particularly influential in our build-up play and the 40-year-old did showcase a loose touch at times, he produced key moments in the game.

From setting Leao through for his goal to curling a brilliant effort into the bottom corner to end the contest at 4-2, we can still rely on the Swede to produce big moments in games like this for us.

Relentless Milan march on in Pioli’s 100th game

As seen in the tweet below, Milan are starting to make a bit of personal history with the impressive nature of our start to this season.

Further, that’s now 100 games in charge for Stefano Pioli, with 58 of those ending in wins, 23 draws and just 19 losses.

That is a highly impressive record for the Milan boss, and it’s hoped that there are many more games in charge to come and a lot of success to follow. We’ve set the standard through these opening nine games, we must now maintain this level and not fall short moving forward.

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