Monza continue to storm up the table to ninth place, as Giulio Donati’s rare Serie A goal proved enough to beat Bologna at the Stadio Dall’Ara and leapfrog them in the standings.

You can check the full line-ups and statistics from Bologna-Monza here.

The hosts were decimated with Joshua Zirkzee, Nicola Sansone, Jhon Lucumi and Kevin Bonifazi injured, Adama Soumaoro suspended, while Marko Arnautovic and Lorenzo De Silvestri were only fit for the bench, so Michel Aebischer started as a False 9. Monza had no such concerns, as Stefano Sensi got his first start of 2023.

Bologna thumped the crossbar after 13 minutes when a free kick found the head of Charalampos Lykogiannis and it was kept out by a combination of Michele Di Gregorio’s glove and the frame of the goal.

Monza took the lead when Andrea Petagna ran onto Sensi’s through ball, cut back past Stefan Posch and fought his way through defenders, firing at Lukasz Skorupski, with Giulio Donati ready to turn in the rebound. It was only Donati’s second ever Serie A goal after March 2020 for Lecce against Atalanta.

Sensi clumsily charged down an effort with his shoulder, but managed to avoid handball, while Posch just about managed to stand his ground when Petagna went clear one-on-one after a midfield error.

Riccardo Orsolini blasted straight at Di Gregorio on a free kick routine and Gianluca Caprari attempted a lob from the centre-circle when he saw Skorupski off his line.

Arnautovic made his comeback after six weeks out with a sprained knee only to get himself booked for sarcastically applauding the referee and Orsolini’s powerful curler flashed just past the far top corner.

After Caprari, Nicolò Rovella also attempted a lob from midfield and this one was going in, fingertipped over the bar by Skorupski.

Bologna forced a mad scramble in the six-yard box with the last kick of the game, but the Monza goalkeeper was able to smother.

Bologna 0-1 Monza

Donati 24 (M)

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