Bologna lived up to their tag as Serie A ‘stalemate kings’ at the Mapei Stadium, sharing the spoils with Sassuolo in an enthralling 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon. Thiago Motta’s men failed to take home three points despite taking an early lead but at least extended their unbeaten league run to nine games.
Joshua Zirkzee loves scoring outside Renato Dall’Ara. After helping Bologna to a 2-2 draw at Inter on their last Serie A travel, the highly-rated youngster struck again to open the scoring only three minutes into the game. Michel Aebischer’s long ball fell perfectly into the forward’s stride. Zirkzee rounded past Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli before finding an empty net.
However, following a disheartening 2-0 home defeat to Lazio last time out, Sassuolo had a point to prove, seeking a way out of a three-match winless run in Serie A. Alessio Dionisi’s side created several half-chances in the first half. Yet they couldn’t find a way past Bologna stopper Lukasz Skorupski.
When it looked like Bologna would take a slender lead into halftime, Daniel Boloca leveled the score with a perfectly-taken long-distance effort into the bottom far corner. With both teams unwilling to settle for a draw, the action was back and forth in the second 45 minutes, with opportunities flying on both ends of the field.
Consigli and Skorupski were the leading characters after the break, as the scoreline stayed the same at the full-time whistle. While the Sassuolo keeper pulled off a decent save to thwart Zirkzee’s free-kick, his Bologna counterpart made a stunning leg stop to deny Cristian Volpato.
Sassuolo right-back Jeremy Toljan cleared Riccardo Orsolini’s cheeky finish off the line in the most promising opportunity for Bologna in the second half. Although they’re enjoying their best undefeated run in Serie A since 2009, Motta’s men have drawn six of their last nine league matches.
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