Former youth international Orji Okwonkwo was expectedly benched as Bologna drew 0-0 with AC Milan in the Serie A on Tuesday night.
Okwonkwo earned his place in the match day squad named by Pipo Inzaghi but wasn’t deemed fit to play the game.
Proceedings were extremely tepid in the first period, as neither side looked threatening and the action got bogged down in midfield.
Aside from a well-worked Hakan Calhanoglu chance, there was little improvement after the break and Bakayoko’s dismissal effectively secured Filippo Inzaghi a point against his former club, who failed to go three points behind Inter with their game in hand.
In a first half devoid of excitement, Milan crafted the opening chance in the 24th minute, but Lukasz Skorupski got down well to keep Gonzalo Higuain’s 20-yard strike out.
The hosts went close with a similar opportunity just before the half-hour mark – former Inter attacker Rodrigo Palacio forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma into a fine save from edge of the area.
Milan produced a hint of eye-catching football early in the second-half, when an incisive passing move saw Calhanoglu line up a shot from just outside the box, but his right-footed drive went wide of the left-hand post.
A shove on Federico Santander three minutes after fouling Blerim Dzemaili earned Bakayoko a second yellow card and that offered the hosts encouragement.
But aside from a goalmouth scramble after Palacio’s free-kick that saw Donnarumma clash with Filip Helander, there were few opportunities for Bolgona to make the most of their advantage.
