Andrea Pinamonti bagged a late brace to complete the comeback from 2-0 down and give Genoa hope, but Bologna once again fumbled a lead.
Both teams were dealing with a massive injury crisis and poor recent form. The Grifone had one point from five rounds and missed Junior Messias, Pierluigi Gollini, Mattia Bani, Vitinha, Koni De Winter, Caleb Ekuban and Ruslan Malinovskyi. Bologna had just two wins all season and were preparing for Aston Villa in the Champions League, but lost Dan Ndoye, Michel Aebischer, Samuel Iling-Junior, Martin Erlic, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Oussama El Azzouzi and Lewis Ferguson, so Benjamin Dominguez got his debut.
Riccardo Orsolini’s cross-shot tested Nicola Leali, as did the ferocious left-foot strike fingertipped over the crossbar and Nikola Moro’s right-foot scorcher from distance that was pushed past the post.
Orsolini under pressure from Mercandalli tried to flick from close range, forcing another great save out of Leali.
When Bologna did finally get the ball in the net with debutant Dominguez from a tricky angle, it was disallowed because he handled in the build-up.
Moments later, Orsolini did break the deadlock with a bit of help, because he controlled a Moro cross-field pass, cut inside and saw the finish deflected off Johan Vasquez to wrong-foot helpless Leali.
Stefano Sabelli’s blushes were spared in stoppages when he fired wide of an open goal, as Andrea Pinamonti was offside on the assist.
Genoa tried to fight back, Aaron Martin firing straight at the goalkeeper, but Bologna doubled their lead when Jens Odgaard was given so much time and space to control a poorly-cleared corner and drill low with his left boot into the near bottom corner from the edge of the area.
The hosts were gifted a goal when Nicolò Casale hit a fresh-air clearance on the edge of his area, allowing Jeff Ekhator to set up Pinamonti’s curler into the far bottom corner.
Suddenly, Genoa rediscovered their belief and Pinamonti battled with Casale to get a shot charged down less than 60 seconds later.
Odgaard also curled just wide, but Genoa completed the comeback with Aaron Martin’s free kick finding a Pinamonti header just inside the penalty area that looped into the far top corner with Nicola Ravaglia rooted to the spot.
Genoa were trying to go for the victory in stoppages, but there was a decisive Juan Miranda sliding tackle to stop Alessandro Zanoli on the counter.
Genoa 2-2 Bologna
Orsolini 37 (B), Odgaard 56 (B), Pinamonti 73, 85 (G)
Player statistic
| 37' |  |
Riccardo Orsolini (Assist: Nikola Moro) |
| 56' | |
Jens Odgaard | ||
| Aarón Martín |  |
64' | ||
| Andrea Pinamonti (Assist: Jeff Ekhator) |
|
73' | ||
| Andrea Pinamonti (Assist: Aarón Martín) |
|
85' | ||
| Andrea Pinamonti | |
86' |
Match statistic
