Bologna twice came back from a goal down to beat Sassuolo in this six-goal thriller of an Emilia-Romagna Derby, staying in the hunt for Europe.
The Rossoblu had slipped back from fourth place with just two points from the last four rounds, but were fresh off a chaotic last-gasp 2-2 draw against Milan where they survived two penalties. Dan Ndoye, Adama Soumaoro and Oussama El Azzouzi were still out, with coach Thiago Motta suspended for dissent, but Stefan Posch returned from his ban. The Neroverdi lost six of their last eight rounds and missed Domenico Berardi, Gregoire Defrel, Jeremy Toljan, Pedro Obiang and suspended Matheus Henrique.
It was a bright start from the visitors, who took the lead when Lukasz Skorupski misplaced a pass playing out from the back under pressure from Armand Lauriente, a gift that Kristian Thorstvedt gladly took to power in from 14 yards.
Josh Doig did well to get in the way as Joshua Zirkzee tried to score with a chest and finish at the back post, but Zirkzee equalised when a corner bounced in front of him and the half-volley took a big deflection off Mattia Viti to nestle into the far top corner. As it was not going on target, it was credited as a Viti own goal.
However, Sassuolo restored their advantage with a fantastic strike from Cristian Volpato, whose left-foot scorcher flew into the far top corner from 14 yards.
Bologna laid siege in the second half, with Lewis Ferguson’s header turned over by Daniel Boloca and a ferocious Riccardo Calafiori chest and half-volley deflected inches wide.
They eventually equalised when Victor Kristiansen floated a cross from the left and Giovanni Fabbian rose to steer the precise header back across the face of goal into the far top corner.
Bologna were pushing to win it, but Zirkzee accidentally got in the way of a Riccardo Orsolini strike.
Instead, Ferguson gathered from Zirkzee just inside the area, cut inside his defender and smashed a right-foot scorcher into the far bottom corner.
Lewis Ferguson with a brilliant strike to put Bologna ahead late on 💥
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 3, 2024
Alexis Saelemaekers added a fourth when he was on the end of a poor clearance, nutmegged Daniel Boloca and dummied another defender to create the gap so he could thread a right-foot finish into the far bottom corner from a tricky angle.
Saelemaekers also proved useful in stoppages by giving the referee back the cards which he had accidentally dropped.
Bologna 4-2 Sassuolo
Thorstvedt 14 (S), Viti og 24 (B), Volpato 34 (S), Fabbian 73 (B), Ferguson 83 (B), Saelemaekers 86 (B)
Player statistic
| 13' |  |
Kristian Thorstvedt | ||
| Mattia Viti |  |
24' | ||
| 34' | |
Cristian Volpato (Assist: Armand Lauriente) | ||
| 45+1' |  |
Kristian Thorstvedt |
| Michel Aebischer | |
55' | ||
| Giovanni Fabbian (Assist: Victor Kristiansen) |
|
73' | ||
| Lewis Ferguson (Assist: Joshua Zirkzee) |
|
83' | ||
| 85' | |
Daniel Boloca | ||
| Alexis Saelemaekers | |
86' | ||
| 90+3' | |
Josh Doig |
Match statistic
