Kaka and Beckham star as AC Milan close in on top

Kaka proved the Manchester City transfer saga is well and truly behind him as he scored a brace in AC Milan’s 4-1 victory at Bologna on Sunday as David Beckham scored his first goal in Italian football.

The win moved Milan to within three points of top spot ahead of Inter Milan’s visit of Sampdoria in the day’s late game.

It was Kaka’s first match since his proposed world record switch to money-bags City was called off on Monday and he proved he was as good as ever with a calmly taken penalty and a rocket with his left foot to ensure Milan continued their title charge.

Kaka’s contribution deflected somewhat from Beckham’s first goal for Milan since joining on loan from the LA Galaxy earlier this month.

However, this victory wasn’t without controversy as once again one of Italy’s big clubs benefited from some favourable refereeing, as Juventus had done in their 1-0 win over Fiorentina on Saturday.

Bologna had the first chance of the game as they opened up Milan’s left side but Milan Christian Abbiati was equal to Sergio Volpi’s fierce strike.

Milan hit back and sweet passing between Kaka and Pato set up Clarence Seedorf, who fired just over the bar.

Bologna took the lead on nine minutes after Christian Amoroso strode into area and was sandwiched by Paolo Maldini and Philippe Senderos. Marco Di Vaio converted from the spot for his 15th league goal of the season.

But just four minutes later Bologna lost the ball in midfield and Kaka hit a shot from distance that Francesco Antonioli couldn’t hold, allowing veteran Dutch midfielder Seedorf to prod home the rebound.

On 17 minutes came the moment of controversy as the referee awarded a penalty to Milan.

Davide Bombardini clearly took the ball off Gianluca Zambrotta as he went into area but the full-back tripped over and the referee pointed to the spot, with Kaka converting.

Any hopes Bologna had of getting back into the game ended five minutes before the break when Gaby Mudingaye was sent off following a second booking.

And just three minutes later Kaka fired home a wonderful left-footed shot to ensure the game was over before the pause.

Beckham then smashed home a fierce right-footer at Antonioli’s near post on the hour after a pass from Seedorf.

Bologna weren’t totally buried, though, and Di Vaio twice brought out great saves by Abbiati.

The other big winners of the day were AS Roma who closed to within three points of fourth, the final Champions League qualifying position, with a stunning 3-0 win at Napoli.

Centre-backs Philippe Mexes and Juan gave Roma a two-goal advantage at the break and Montenegro forward Mirko Vucinic added the third just after the restart.

It means Roma are fifth and only three points behind Genoa, who were surprisingly held to a 1-1 home draw by Catania.

Roma have won eight of their last 10 Serie A matches as they recovered from a disastrous start to the season where they won only two and lost six of their first 10 games.