Yahoo Sports Serie A | Bologna 1-0 Fiorentina: Italiano ends Viola winning streak
Vincenzo Italiano defeated his past when Bologna ended the nine-match Fiorentina winning streak thanks to a Jens Odgaard strike at the Stadio Dall’Ara.
The Viola were seeking a ninth consecutive Serie A victory, having also won on Thursday in the Conference League. Edoardo Bove had left hospital and visited his teammates following a medical emergency, with Marin Pongracic injured. The Rossoblu missed Riccardo Orsolini, Juan Miranda, Nicolò Cambiaghi and Oussama El Azzouzi, but Charalampos Lykogiannis, Michel Aebischer and Stefan Posch were back in the squad.
Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino was not on the bench, as his mother Rosa died this morning, and the players wore black armbands with assistant Stefano Citterio.
See how the game unfolded on the Liveblog.
Gudmundsson was back in the starting XI and made an immediate impact, with penalty appeals waved away for his dink over the on-rushing Lukasz Skorupski.
Moise Kean had the ball in the net on 20 minutes, but he was offside running onto the long Danilo Cataldi pass.
Lukasz Skorupski fingertipped the Cataldi strike over the bar after a great Gudmundsson pass, then on the resulting corner Kean’s header was parried.
Bologna’s injury problems got worse when Dan Ndoye sprained his right knee during a coming together with Robin Gosens. He hobbled on until half-time and almost scored, prodding the Lorenzo De Silvestri assist wide from six yards.
Within 15 seconds of the restart, Santiago Castro had Bologna’s best chance, his angled drive thumping the base of the far post on an assist from substitute Lewis Ferguson.
David De Gea got down to smother a Tommaso Pobega chest and volley from the edge of the area, then flew for a tough one-handed save on the Jens Odgaard rocket at the near post.
That was only a warning, as Bologna did take the lead soon after. Castro’s sensational cross-field pass sent Benjamin Dominguez clear down the right, his roll across was meant to be for Remo Freuler, but kept going until Odgaard swept home at the back post.
It really should’ve been 2-0, but Emil Holm ballooned over the bar from another inspired Castro assist, sending Italiano apoplectic with rage on the touchline.
Amir Richardson’s header tested Skoruoski, but not as much as the Ferguson screamer from distance caused problems for De Gea. Bologna held on under pressure for a huge win in the fight for European qualification.
Bologna 1-0 Fiorentina
Odgaard 59 (B)
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