Serie A | Frosinone 0-0 Bologna: Motta's men neutralised

Bologna surprisingly saw their run of victories halted by relegation-threatened Frosinone, allowing Roma to close up within three points of fourth place.

These were teams in very different form, as the Canarini were in the relegation zone after just three draws in nine rounds, while the Rossoblu could put pressure on Juventus for third place following eight wins in their last nine. Jens Odgaard, Adama Soumaoro and Sam Beukema didn’t make the trip, though Joshua Zirkzee returned to the starting XI. The hosts missed Anthony Oyono, Francesco Gelli, Ilario Monterisi, Abdou Harroui and Sergio Kalaj.

See how it unfolded on the Liveblog.

It was an aggressive start from Eusebio Di Francesco’s men, Walid Cheddira denied one-on-one by Lukasz Skorupski when sent clear by a Riccardo Calafiori error, while Jhon Lucumi’s brave defending prevented Emanuele Valeri finding Cheddira for a tap-in.

Alexis Saelemaekers was perhaps fortunate to only get a yellow card for his dangerous very high boot that caught Nadir Zortea on the shoulder.

Skorupski was called into a tough save on Caleb Okoli’s header from a corner, while Calafiori’s over-hit back-pass caused his goalkeeper real problems scrambling it away.

Bologna held possession for long periods, but barely ever had genuine attempts on goal, at the 66^th minute Michel Aebischer sent through by Riccardo Orsolini’s nutmeg to force Stefano Turati into a save with his outstretched boot.

Zortea fired over from the edge of the box and in the final stages Santiago Castro had a huge opportunity, at full stretch getting a flick to the Charalampos Lykogiannis cross to force a tricky save from Turati.

Marco Brescianini’s glancing header was off target from Zortea’s cross, along with the Kacper Urbanski scorcher from distance, while Lykogiannis was decisive in stoppages with a sprint back to stop Marvin Cuni clear on goal.

Bologna should’ve won it with the last kick of the game, as Stefan Posch nodded down a cross into the six-yard box, where Ndoye first saw his volley fingertipped onto the crossbar, then it came back to him to prod it over from point-blank range.

Frosinone 0-0 Bologna