Bologna shocked Napoli 3-2 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona with a dramatic stoppage-time winner from Jonathan Rowe, spoiling the Partenopei’s first Champions League qualification match point on Serie A Matchday 36.
Napoli missed a huge opportunity to strengthen their grip on Champions League qualification after suffering a dramatic 3-2 home defeat against Bologna in one of the most entertaining matches of the weekend.
Antonio Conte’s side started sluggishly and quickly found themselves under pressure from a confident Bologna team that dominated possession and attacked aggressively from the opening whistle.
The visitors opened the scoring after just ten minutes. Juan Miranda delivered another dangerous ball into the area and Federico Bernardeschi finished clinically with a left-footed strike across goal to make it 1-0.
Bologna continued to control the tempo and doubled the lead in the 34th minute. Giovanni Di Lorenzo brought down the excellent Miranda inside the penalty area, allowing Riccardo Orsolini to convert from the spot despite Milinković-Savić nearly keeping it out.
The two-goal deficit finally woke Napoli up.
Just before halftime, Di Lorenzo redeemed himself by smashing a powerful finish under the crossbar after a fortunate loose ball created by a mistake from Remo Freuler.
Napoli carried that momentum into the second half and equalized immediately after the restart. Rasmus Højlund did excellent work with his back to goal before setting up Alisson Santos, who arrived from midfield and calmly slotted home to make it 2-2.
The hosts appeared energized after the comeback, while Bologna became more conservative after their explosive opening half. However, Vincenzo Italiano’s side remained dangerous on the counterattack.
Deep into stoppage time, Bologna found the decisive moment. Miranda’s effort was parried by Milinković-Savić, but substitute Jonathan Rowe reacted acrobatically to volley home the rebound in the 91st minute, silencing the Maradona and securing a massive away victory.
The defeat postpones Napoli’s chance to secure Champions League qualification, while Bologna continue their strong finish to the season with another statement performance.
Match Report
Napoli 2-3 Bologna
Scorers:
10’ Bernardeschi (Bologna), 34’ pen. Orsolini (Bologna), 45+2’ Di Lorenzo (Napoli), 48’ Alisson Santos (Napoli), 91’ Rowe (Bologna)
Napoli (3-4-2-1)
Milinković-Savić; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno; Politano (84’ Spinazzola), Lobotka (76’ Gilmour), McTominay, Gutierrez (87’ Mazzocchi); Giovane (76’ Elmas), Alisson Santos; Højlund
Head Coach: Antonio Conte
Bologna (4-3-3)
Pessina; João Mario (64’ Zortea), Helland (81’ Heggem), Lucumí, Miranda; Ferguson (81’ Sohm), Freuler, Pobega (81’ Moro); Orsolini, Castro, Bernardeschi (73’ Rowe)
Head Coach: Vincenzo Italiano
Referee: Piccinini
Yellow Cards: João Mario, Bernardeschi, Helland, Lucumí, Politano
Red Cards: None
