AC Milan’s unbeaten start to the Serie A campaign ended in a dramatic 4-2 defeat by Bologna, who overturned an early deficit to claim a first victory over the Rossoneri in the league this season.
Milan were one of only four unbeaten teams in Serie A before kick-off and arrived at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza with the stronger recent head-to-head record. Bologna, meanwhile, began the match in mid-table and had failed to score against their opponents in the league last season.
However, they had beaten Milan at San Siro in May 2025, when the sides met in the Coppa Italia. Raffaele Palladino’s team had taken two wins, two draws and two defeats from their previous six matches, and needed arguably their best display of the season to take all three points.
Palladino made two changes to his starting XI, while Ruben Amorim altered three players from the side that had beaten Udinese at the weekend. That victory had followed Milan’s recent Europa League defeat by Bournemouth.
Milan’s start was far from convincing. Bologna had already attempted twice before Samuel Mbangula gave the visitors an eighth-minute lead. It was a particularly concerning position for the hosts, who had not won any of their previous eight matches after conceding first.
The response was swift. Alphadjo Cisse equalised five minutes later and scored again in the 26th minute. Between those two goals, Milan had controlled 69% of possession, but Bologna continued to move the ball effectively despite being behind.
Rahim Alhassane completed 100% of his passes, while Lewis Ferguson recorded a 92.2% completion rate and Samuel Mbangula 90%. Fikayo Tomori was outstanding defensively for the hosts, making four first-half tackles – more than any other player – and limiting Nadir Zortea and Federico Bernardeschi.
Pervis Estupinan also made four tackles, while Strahinja Pavlovic won 10 of his 14 duels, comfortably the highest tally on the pitch.
Bologna’s attacking quartet of Mbangula, Bernardeschi, Zortea and Jens Odgaard began to threaten more regularly after the interval. Each had at least four touches inside Milan’s penalty area, with Odgaard also registering two early second-half efforts.
The flow of the match changed after a series of substitutions. On the hour, Davide Bartesaghi turned the ball into his own net, before Mbangula restored his side’s lead two minutes later.
Bologna had not scored three goals in a Serie A match since 23 May, when they drew 3-3 with Milan’s city rivals Internazionale. They then took control, with Milan failing to produce an attempt for more than half an hour.
Luka Modric tried to revive the hosts, completing 97.5% of his passes as Milan enjoyed 80% possession late on. But Bologna defended their advantage, restricting Milan to Francesco Camarda’s shot before Mbangula completed the scoring in the 86th minute.
Christian Comotto denied Milan again during a late spell of pressure. Ardon Jashari, Koni De Winter and Strahinja Pavlovic recorded 339 touches between them, but the Rossoneri still could not break through a Bologna defence that needed to make only one successful tackle during the entire match.
