Bologna were made to pay for wasting so many scoring opportunities, as Boulaye Dia grabbed a late Salernitana equaliser after the Marko Arnautovic penalty.
Riccardo Orsolini returned from suspension, giving Sinisa Mihajlovic a full squad. Salernitana were fresh from hammering Sampdoria 4-0, despite missing Franck Ribery, Ivan Radovanovic, Lars Bohinen and Matteo Lovato.
Lukasz Skorupski flew to palm away a Boualye Dia header and had his gloves stung by Federico Bonazzoli, while Nicola Sansone should’ve done better when intercepting a loose ball to go on the counter and drilled wide under pressure.
Sansone flashed a ball across the face of goal, inches past both the far post and Marko Arnautovic trying to tap in.
It was another Sansone error to waste a Bologna chance, as he pounced on a suicidal Dia back-pass only to fire straight at the on-rushing goalkeeper.
Bologna made a triple change at half-time and Roberto Soriano turned a free header wide at the back post, but Sansone was brought down by a clumsy Norbert Gyomber challenge, allowing Arnautovic to convert the penalty.
The hosts tried to protect their lead, allowing Salernitana a series of corners and much of the initiative, but still should’ve scored when Arnautovic on the counter misplaced the pass for Sansone.
Orsolini tested Luigi Sepe from distance, but Salernitana equalised when Skorupski made the save on substitute Antonio Candreva, but could do nothing as Dia came sliding in on the rebound from six yards.
Bologna 1-1 Salernitana
Arnautovic pen 52 (B), Dia 88 (S)