Miserable conditions and non-stop rainfall couldn’t dampen the spirits of Bologna’s excellent vocal support early on Sunday afternoon, but substitute Kevin-Prince Boateng’s late equaliser from the penalty spot for Sassuolo stunned them into silence and saw the Emilia-Romagna derby end all square.
Away support aside, the atmosphere at the Mapei Stadium was non-existent, which wasn’t helped by the weather conditions as, having seen temperatures rise above 30 degrees in midweek, the seasons finally changed in Italy.
Bologna’s travelling faithful were rewarded early as Rodrigo Palacio brought an end to their 512-minute wait for an away Serie A goal inside two minutes, beating the Sassuolo defence to arrive on the end of a low cross to thump into the top corner at Andrea Consigli’s near post.
Marlon was the provider of Sassuolo’s equaliser. Finding himself in possession and space 30-yards from goal, he teed himself up and rifled an arrowed effort out of Lukasz Skorupski’s reach.
Consigli, for the second time, had his fingers stung by yet another Mattias Svanberg effort from range before Bologna restored their lead from the resulting corner. Giancarlo Gonzalez knocked the cross down and back into the six-yard box where it was diverted towards goal by Ibrahima Mbaye and Consigli, who had already gone to ground, was unable to reach the ball as he stretched in an attempt to turn it away.
Substitute Boateng was presented with a gift late on, which he duly accepted as he tucked away an 85th-minute penalty to see the spoils shared.
Alessandro Matri should have won it, but somehow put over the crossbar from inside two-yards.
Defending, what defending?
Before Sunday’s game Sassuolo’s last three home matches had seen 17 goals scored, averaging 5.7 per match and while the Neroverdi and Bologna couldn’t quite produce that, the defending from both sides meant plenty more could have been scored.
The two were disastrous at the back and while the game had its spells of entertainment there was very little quality on show and had either got a clinical striker on the pitch it could have been any score.
Di Francesco had his chances for the hosts, as did Santander for the guests while Filip Djuricic also passed up a chance that opened up on the edge of the box.
Chaos, incompetence and a general lack of quality
The first half saw both sides play their part in the most incompetent 30 seconds of Serie A action this season.
Federico Santander kicked it all off by missing the simplest of headers from inside six-yards, allowing the hosts to break with Filippo Inzaghi’s side seemingly unaware that defending was a possibility.
Federico Di Francesco turned, still deep inside his own half to find the entirety of the pitch open in front of him, and duly took off. Approaching goal with Domenico Berardi alongside, the forward chose to lay off for his teammate but somehow made a complete mess of the pass, allowing the Rossoblu to scramble clear.
The Fresh Prince saves Sassuolo
While chaotic at times, Sassuolo are still an exciting side and if they had a clinical striker they would be much better off. Francesco, Berardi, Kevin-Prince Boateng and even Djuricic create chances but they lack a seasoned No.9 to put away their chances.
In the absence of that striker, the Ghanaian stepped up to convert a late penalty to seal the points and his presence remains so important to Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
