ESSIEN SITS OUT; MUNTARI MAKES APPEARANCE IN MILAN WIN

Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari could only make the substite bench in AC Milan's game against Bologna on Friday night.

Essien sat out the entire game
without an appearance while Sulley
Muntari replaced Nigel de Jong in the 63rd minute.Milan who were playing at home at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza were unable to
find the back of the net in the first half as were their match-day adversary Bologna.

The second half was battled out at equal measure as depicted by the
scoreline until a Montolivo assist gave Mario Balotelli the only goal of the game in the 86 th minute.

AC Milan secured the three points on the night that puts them 11 th on the Italian Serie A table with 29 points from 23 matches.

Michael Essien confirms death of father on twitter

Michael Essien has confirmed the death
of his dad, James Essien moments after
touching down to rejoin the Black Stars
for the deciding 2014 World Cup qualifier
against Zambia.  Shared a photo of
himself and his dad on twitter and wrote:
“It’s hard to take but God knows best.
Thanks a lot for the support and well
wishes. R.I.P Father!!!!,”
The Chelsea ace arrived in Accra on
Sunday night to the sad news of his dad’s
passing. Essien had travelled to Ghana to
join the Black Stars team for Friday’s
deciding 2014 World Cup qualifier against
Zambia. The 30-year-old was returning to
the side after an over two-year absence
to help him recover fully from injury and
to regain a regular first team place at his
club.