The Serie A title race is poised for a thrilling climax after AC Milan's lead at the top of the Serie A table was cut short to a single point by a goalless draw against mid-table Bologna on Monday.
After dropping two precious points Stefano Pioli's side holds a slender lead over second-placed Napoli, who ran out impressive 3-1 winners at Atalanta on Sunday afternoon and is now snapping at Milan's heels.
Defending champion Inter Milan is four points back in third with a game in hand following its 1-0 triumph at fourth-placed Juventus, which is eight points off the pace with seven matches left.
The draw was another disappointing result against one of the league's lesser sides, its displays against teams it should beat a consistent problem as the season inches towards its climax.
Milan took 33 shots over the course of the match but only seven were on target in an imprecise performance in front of goal which could yet cost it a first league title since 2011.
"The only thing that we were missing was the goal because we fought, played with intensity and created a lot of opportunities," said Pioli to DAZN.
"We were neither nervous nor cocky ... as the minutes ticked away we lost a bit of lucidity and we got a bit rushed, but absolutely not because we were feeling the pressure."
Bologna, who sits 12th, was without its coach Sinisa Mihajlovic who is being treated for leukemia but spoke to his players in the days leading up to the match on a video call from Sant'Orsola hospital in the northern Italian city.
The away side fought throughout in front of over 68,000 fans at the San Siro and could even have taken the lead midway through the first half when Mike Maignan pulled off a fingertip save to keep out Musa Barrow's long-range rocket.
However, Milan dominated the play as it pushed to maintain its three-point lead on Napoli, with Olivier Giroud being denied twice just before halftime by Lukasz Skorupski.
The hosts came out aggressively after the break but again struggled to find a way past Skorupski, who kept out Rafael Leao's low drive before watching Davide Calabria's 61st-minute drive fly just wide after being set up by his Portuguese teammate.
Leao scuffed wide a curling effort 11 minutes later and Fikayo Tomori hit over the bar before Skorupski saved a point for Bologna in the fifth minute of stoppage time by tipping over Ante Rebic's powerful header, which fortunately for the Pole was hit straight down the middle of his goal.
Earlier Giovanni Simeone struck his 16th league goal of the season in Verona's 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Genoa who fell to its first defeat under coach Alexander Blessin.
Simeone became only the second player in Verona's history after Luca Toni to net more than 15 times in a single Serie A campaign after his decisive fifth-minute strike which moved Verona up to ninth and left Genoa second from bottom, three points from safety.
Blessin had not lost in his previous eight matches in charge since arriving at Genoa a virtual unknown in January, running out seven consecutive draws before beating Torino just before the international break.
Verona was playing without the support of its hardcore fans after the Curva Sud section of the Stadio Bentegodi was closed following racist abuse directed at Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen in its previous home fixture last month.
