Bologna came back to winning ways in the last match of Serie A Round 32 as they beat Sampdoria thanks to a superb performance from Marko Arnautovic, in what it was a quite interesting encounter at the Dall’Ara Stadium. This was the 100th encounter between the Felsinei and the Blucerchiati.
Starting XIs: Aebischer Starts Again, Ekdal Recovers
Miroslav Tanjga was again on the bench as the Bologna coach, replacing Sinisa Mihajlovic who’s still dealing with his health issues. He pretty much confirmed the lineup that held Milan to a 0-0 draw last week, with only Lorenzo De Silvestri and Michael Kingsley unavailable.
For Sampdoria, coach Marco Giampaolo recovered Albin Ekdal in the midfield and confirmed Abdelhamid Sabiri alongside Stefano Sensi, after the convincing performances delivered by the Moroccan attacking midfielder. Ciccio Caputo was the sole striker upfront.
Bologna Dominate But Cannot Find the Net
In the first half, Bologna created plenty of opportunities, but they weren’t lucid enough to convert them. First, Musa Barrow served Marko Arnautovic with a through ball that put him in front of Emil Audero. The Samp’s goalie kept the result at 0-0.
Then, Arnautovic returned the favor to Barrow, but the Gambian player fired his shot just above the post. On the twenty-minute mark, a hard collision between Bologna’s center back Gary Medel and Samp’s midfielder Morten Thorsby resulted in a serious injury for the Bologna captain. However, he managed to continue the game even with a big bandage on his knee.
Ten minutes later, Scottish right back Aaron Hickey played a one-two with Mattias Svanberg, who put him again in front of Audero, but his shot went wide.
Arnautovic Strikes Twice as Sampdoria Collapse
In the second half, coach Tanjga decided to shake things up and play more offensive as he brought in Roberto Soriano from the bench. However, the first clear goal scoring opportunity was for Sampdoria, with Bologna’s goalie Lukasz Skorupski saving the result with some brilliant goalkeeping to deny Caputo.
From then on, the game turned into an absolute one-way slugfest for Bologna, who repeatedly attacked Sampdoria and were rewarded after one hour of play. Hickey switched the play from right to left to Mitchell Dijks, who put the ball in for Arnautovic’s tap-in, bringing the Felsinei ahead.
In the space of two minutes, the Austrian striker hit the post again – for the sixth time this season – then almost assisted Nicola Sansone to double the lead. Sansone was also denied by the post though – the 19th time overall for Bologna. With fifteen minutes left on the clock, Bologna closed the match, once again with Arnautovic – who took advantage of a defensive mistake by newly subbed center back Maya Yoshida.
What’s Next for Bologna and Sampdoria
Bologna now sit 12th in the league table with 37 points and one game in hand to recover against Inter. With only seven games to go, they are almost certain to avoid relegation. Sampdoria, on the other hand, are dangerously close to the third last spot as they sit 16th with 29 points – only 7 points clear of Venezia with 6 games left.
Bologna will travel to Turin on Saturday to face Juventus, with the Bianconeri looking at securing their Champions League spot. Sampdoria will host Salernitana at home in what could be a decisive match-up for both teams in the relegation battle.
MATCH SCORECARD
April 11, 2022 – Serie A 2021-2022 Round 32
BOLOGNA – SAMPDORIA: 2-0
SCORERS: 61′ Arnautovic, 76′ Arnautovic
 |
BOLOGNA (3-5-2): Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel (74′ Bonifazi), Theate; Hickey, Aebischer (60′ Dominguez), Schouten, Svanberg (46′ Soriano), Dijks; Barrow (60′ Sansone), Arnautovic (Bardi, Binks, Orsolini, Viola, Mbaye, Vignato, Kasius, Falcinelli) Coach: Tanjga (replacing Mihajlovic) |
 |
SAMPDORIA (4-3-2-1): Audero; Bereszynski, Ferrari (60′ Yoshida), Colley, Murru (80′ Augello); Candreva (80′ Vieira), Rincon (67′ Quagliarella), Thorsby; Sensi, Sabiri; Caputo. (Ravaglia, Falcone, Supryaga, Askildsen, Magnani, Somma, Trimboli) Coach: Giampaolo |