High-flying top-half hopefuls Bologna squeezed past last season’s Serie A runners-up Inter 1-0 at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. Riccardo Orsolini’s strike midway through the second half settled an ugly affair on a cold, rainy afternoon in Emilia-Romagna.
Even though Inter had much more of the ball in the opening stages, Bologna had the first presentable chance of the game. Makeshift striker Musa Barrow received a well-taken pass inside the box and drilled home a perfect finish to break the deadlock only 12 minutes in. But the home side’s celebrations were short-lived as referee Daniele Orsato ruled the goal out for offside after a VAR review.
Despite seeing an early opener disallowed, Bologna continued to create chances. Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana pulled off a vital save to deny Orsolini’s thunderous strike from an acute angle. However, Roberto Soriano picked up the rebound and unleashed another devastating from the opposite side, only to see it rattle off the crossbar.
Inter weathered the storm, but Simone Inaghi’s men failed to put Bologna shot-stopper Lucasz Skorupski to the test. Closest the Nerazzurri got to opening the scoring in the first half was in the 39th minute. Hakan Calhanoglu tried from distance, yet even though his effort had pace, it lacked placement, forcing a comfortable save from the Polish keeper.
Moments later, Alessandro Bastoni whipped in a delightful curling ball straight into Lautaro Martinez’s stride. But the Argentine’s header flew a whisker wide of the left post. Orsolini’s wild attempt on the stroke of halftime signed off an abysmal first half in Emilia-Romagna. Nonetheless, Thiago Motta could’ve been more pleased than his Inter counterpart.
Inzaghi’s men enjoyed a far more promising start to the second half. Robin Gosens danced past several challenges and Skorupski before laying off an inch-perfect assist for Hakan Calhanoglu, whose wayward finish from point-blank won’t even make the highlights. Inter had a wishful penalty claim a few minutes later, but Orsato waved play on.
As the game progressed, Inter players started to get more nervous, pushing forward in numbers in pursuit of an all-important opening goal. It left plenty of space behind, allowing Bologna to catch their visitors on the break. Francesco Acerbi’s poor giveaway fired Barrow one-on-one with Onana, yet a disappointing finish let down the Rossoblu frontman.
Barrow’s miss was only the announcement of things to come. Inter failed to learn from their mistakes, with Orosolini making them pay the ultimate price in the 76th minute. The in-form winger accelerated away from the visiting backline and hammered the ball into the roof of the net with a top-class finish to put Bologna in front.
Inter tried to respond through second-half substitute Edin Dzeko and their main man Martinez but to no avail. Skorupski had to make a vital save to thwart Gosens’ shot deep in stoppage time to help Bologna register a second consecutive home win over the Nerazzurri in Serie A.
And while Bologna’s bid for a first European finish in the 21st century remains on track, today’s defeat has effectively ruled Inter out of the Scudetto race, leaving runaway leaders Napoli 18 points clear at the summit.
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