Bologna temporarily moved up to eighth place in the Serie A table with their 1-0 win over Empoli at the Dall’Ara on Sunday afternoon, with Riccardo Orsolini providing both goals.
Empoli, meanwhile, have slipped back into 19th place in Serie A, and could hit the bottom of the table if Cagliari pick up a point against Fiorentina on Monday evening.
Somewhat surprisingly, the visitors had the more impressive track record of the two sides heading into the tie, having won seven of their previous encounters against Bologna, although the 2023-24 season has already proved to be a bit of a challenge for Empoli.
In fact, Empoli’s 1-0 win over Salernitana in midweek provided the team’s first league goal of the season, as well as their first points. Bologna came into the tie off the back of three consecutive goalless draws.
It took 21 minutes for Bologna to open the scoring through Riccardo Orsolini. A combination of a botched clearance and a moment of individual magic from the 26-year-old handed Thiago Motta’s side the lead.
Orsolini, gambling on a knock-on from Joshua Zirkzee, pulled out an impressive flick to nudge the ball in front of him, before using the same foot to lift the ball over an onrushing defender, before slamming home into the near corner from close range.
Having broken his duct for the 2023-24 season, Orsolini did not have to wait too much longer to add his second, and then third of the campaign.
Bologna had the larger share of shots during the first interval, but both sides were level in terms of shots on target with three apiece.
Empoli’s greatest threats of the first interval came from corners and set-pieces, although an early attempt inside the box from Tyronne Ebuehi did call Lukasz Skorupski into action.
The visitors looked to draw level with a speculative long-range free-kick soon after the re-start, but Razvan Marin’s effort sailed over the bar.
Francesco Caputo registered another effort on target for the visitors shortly afterwards, latching onto Marin’s cross and forcing a fine save out of Skorupski.
Bologna then had a great chance to put themselves two up, although Zirkzee was unable to capitalise on Dan Ndoye’s generous lay-off.
Bologna relied upon Orsolini again to convert their second goal of the game, 66 minutes into the game and 21 minutes after the re-start, almost exactly the same amount of time it took him to score in the first half.
Orsolini was freed and given frankly too much space and time within the area to pick his spot and dispatch a curling effort into the centre of the goal.
With the game heading into its final exchanges, Orsolini cropped up once more to finish off his hat-trick, taking it on his preferred left foot from the edge of the area, finding the bottom corner to round off a magnificent personal display, particularly in the second half.
Bologna will now turn their focus to arguably their toughest test of the season so far, facing the league leaders in Inter at San Siro next weekend.
For Empoli, who again find themselves deep in the relegation zone, a home clash against Empoli on Friday provides an opportunity to turn their tough start to the season around.