AC Milan beat Bologna in Serie A

MILAN: Giacomo Bonaventura struck twice as AC Milan bounced back from last week’s embarrassing draw at Benevento by beating Bologna 2-1 on Sunday to give Gennaro Gattuso his first win as coach in Serie A football.

Midfielder Bonaventura opened the scoring early on before Simone Verdi’s leveller, but grabbed the winner 14 minutes from time.It was a much-needed win for Gattuso after his reign began last weekend with Milan becoming the first team to fail to beat Benevento this season as goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli scored in injury-time, before a much-changed side were beaten at Croatians Rijeka in the Europa League.

Milan moved up to seventh in the Serie A table, but are still 11 points off the top four.“It was important to win and we did it, we’re happy,” Bonaventura told Milan’s website.“I struggled at the start of the year because I was not fit, but now I’m slowly starting to reach 100 percent.”

Bonaventura wasted little time in putting the hosts ahead at the San Siro, as he latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the area to slot past a wrong-footed Antonio Mirante in the Bologna goal.Ninth-placed Bologna, who were level on points with Milan heading into the game, equalised midway through the first half as Verdi hammered a left-footed shot into the top corner.