Bologna Continues to Shine: Victory over Verona Keeps Dreams Alive

Fabbian’s strike in the first half opened the discussion, while in the second half it was the Swiss Freuler’s turn to close the discussion. Yet another success for the rossoblù, who continue to make the entire people of Bologna dream.

Match report

In a Dall’Ara close to sold out, the first emotion of the match comes from… the referee: injury to the right foot and the match suspended for a few minutes. Inside the IV Champion Man and the game starts again. On the pitch, Bologna lays siege to the Scala team who, in turn, defend themselves with order. Nothing happened until the 18th minute, when a free kick from Duda warmed up Skorupski’s gloves. However, the challenge is slow to ignite and crumples into a long period of very boring back and forth. Then, finally, in the 27th minute Bologna beat a shot and took the lead: a melee in the away area and a predatory strike from Fabbian who was under close range. The stadium explodes, while Camplone is called to the VAR for a possible foul on Montipò. All good and rossoblù in the lead. Once the balance has been broken, Motta’s troops continue to push and camp in the Venetian defensive half of the field. At dusk in the first half it is Ndoye who tries with a nice personal solo that forces Montipò to reject with his foot. The opportunity fades and the two teams go to half-time with the score 1-0.

The second half begins with the same plot as the first half and in the 54th minute Bologna threatens again with an aerial deflection from Beukema which ends up just wide. Dall’Ara snorts, while the Emilians continue with their monologue. The attacks, however, lead to nothing and in the 64th minute the hosts risk the omelette: a clumsy clearance by Skorupski (this time with his hands) at the feet of Suslov, who is stubborn in attempting an immediate lob that shaves the post. Once the scare was over, Motta’s team regrouped and found the second goal on the turnaround in front: Fabbian’s assist from the right for the onrushing Freuler who scored behind the goalkeeper with a precise crossed volley. At 65′, the Bolognese are ahead by two points. Hellas are on the ropes and, pushed by the public, Bologna tries again, first with Fabbian and then with Zirkzee: the aim is lacking in both cases, but the spirit is the right one. With the result in the freezer and the famous “inertia” now in his favor, Motta opts for a long round of changes. The new additions keep the level of competitiveness high and the race passes by without any particular worries until the final minutes, when the ‘Hellas surprises the Bolognese on the counterattack by coming within a stone’s throw of the goal: Skorupski, however, overcomes himself in this case and saves the close-range tap-in of the newly introduced Henry with a dive. Deserved applause for him too and the match ends with a score of 2-0. Bologna thus scores their fifth consecutive victory, while the stadium lights up singing Thiago Motta’s name at the top of their lungs to the tunes of Cremonini and Lucio Dalla. Yet another night of celebration can therefore begin…

Report cards

Skorupski 6: He makes half the stadium faint with a mess of biblical proportions that risks turning into a draw at La Scala. At the end, however, he makes a save on the close tap-in of the Frenchman Henry and redeems himself in style.
Posch 6.5: A flawless match for the Austrian, who now seems to be back to being a reliable full-back. (By Silvestri 6: He puts his experience into the final minutes)
Luke 6.5: He fights, elbows his way and… “sweeps” when sweeping needs to be done. He would be a foil player, but he also knows how to use the rake when the time comes to clean the garden at home.
Beukema 7: Usual, precious, contribution to the center of the defensive department. Clean and precise in his interventions, he also dictates the movements of his linemates. Truly one of the best of the best of this sci-fi rossoblù moment.
Kristiansen 6.5: Another test of substance for the Dane, now master of the left track. We reiterate it once again: are we sure that the 15 million needed for the redemption is not a more than reasonable price?
Freuler 7.5: He raises a defensive wall in the middle of the field that would make the Mose engineers envious, and gets a yellow card for an intervention that they wouldn’t have whistled for even in a trump call tournament. He wasn’t discouraged and scored the 2-0 goal with a nice insertion. In the end, he gets a well-deserved standing ovation (El Azzouzi sv)
Fabian 7.5: This time he is the “fox in the box”: he scores like his old coach Pippo Inzaghi did and gives the rossoblù the lead. In the second half, however, he turns into an assist-man and gives a chocolate to Freuler to make it 2-0. ( Aebischer 6: He takes the field with the right spirit in the final moments of the match)
Orsolini 6: In the first half he didn’t have an impact as usual and seemed to kick the medicine ball in a couple of corners that were shot really too short. However, he plays a sacrifice match and this earns him the applause at the moment of the substitution (Lykogiannis sv)
Ferguson 6,5: Once again he fights in the undergrowth of midfield. The rain-soaked British day will have reminded him of old Aberdeen and for this reason he enters the tackle with the same simplicity with which one orders a pint of beer in a pub.
Ndoye 6.5: It takes him a while to get going, but when he picks up the pace he becomes a real bogeyman for the Venetian rearguard. (Karlsson st: He enters and the audience goes crazy with joy. We don’t know why, but that’s okay)
Circus 6.5: He provides top-quality defenders, fights with all the Veronese defenders and helps his teammates when coming out. Always fundamental, even when he doesn’t score. Let’s enjoy it until the last minute of the season.

Scoreboard

Bologna (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; Posch (De Silvestri 75′), Beukema, Lucumi, Kristiansen; Freuler (81′ El Azzouzi), Fabbian (81′ Aebischer); Orsolini (75′ Lykogiannis), Ferguson, Ndoye (81′ Karlsson); Zirkzee. A disp. Ravaglia, Bagnolini, Corazza, Ilic, Calafiori, Moro, Urbanski, Saelemakers, Odgaard. All. Thiago Motta
Verona (4-2-3-1): Montipo; Centonze (58′ Tchatchoua), Magnani, Dawidowicz, Cabal; Duda (81’Silva), Serdar; Folorunsho (87′ Lazovic), Suslov, Swiderski (58′ Mitrovic); Noslin (81’Henry). Available Chiesa, Perilli, Coppola, Vinagre, Belahyane, Charlys, Tavsan, Bonazzoli. All. Marco Baroni
Referee: Palermo abyss
Assistants: Bresmes-Di Monte
IV Man: Camplone
Was: Sozza-Mazzoleni
Rarely: 27′ Fabbian, 65′ Freuler
Ammonites: 19′ Freuler, 45’+5 Duda, 70′ Ferguson, 79′ Cabal
Note: Spectators 26,033