Serie A | Bologna 0-1 Parma: Ducali cynically capitalise on local crisis

Christian Ordonez gave Parma victory deep into stoppages, along with a pair of incredible Edoardo Corvi saves, as Bologna were frustrated in a fiery derby with two red cards.

Both teams were in poor form going into this local derby. The hosts had a pitiful one win and three draws in their last 11 Serie A games, culminating in a 3-0 hammering by Milan. Lukasz Skorupski returned from suspension and the treatment table was finally empty, so new buy Joao Mario went into the starting XI for his debut. The Ducali missed Nahuel Estevez, Zion Suzuki, Pontus Almqvist, Lautaro Valenti, Abdoulaye Ndiaye and Matija Frigan. Following 0-0 draws with Napoli and Genoa, they lost heavily 4-0 to Atalanta and 4-1 to Juventus.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

The hosts had the better start with Charalampos Lykogiannis and Jhon Lucumi firing over from distance, but the game changed on 22 minutes.

Mandela Keita won it back in midfield and surged forward, clipped from behind by Tommaso Pobega for a yellow card. The decision was changed to red following a VAR On-Field Review, as he was off balance and grazed the studs on the back of the calf almost at the knee, which looked considerably worse in slow motion.

Adrian Bernabé saw a free kick flash just wide, while Thijs Dallinga didn’t get enough power on the header to surprise Edoardo Corvi.

The dismissal seemed to make little difference to the approach of either team, though on the stroke of half-time Gaetano Oristanio robbed Torbjorn Heggem to set up Keita, his strike from the edge of the area charged down by Lewis Ferguson.

Bologna had a huge opportunity to take the lead after the restart, as Federico Bernardeschi knocked down the Ferguson cross only for Dallinga to balloon over the bar from seven yards.

The problems continued to pile up, as Lykogiannis limped off with a suspected thigh strain.

Moments later, Parma broke the deadlock when Francesco Delprato and Mateo Pellegrino at full stretch did not make contact with the Adrian Bernabé free kick, but did mean Santiago Castro was unsighted and accidentally nodded into his own net. As Pellegrino was offside, the goal was disallowed because he was interfering with play.

Moments later, Rowe’s header was deflected inches wide by Mariano Troilo’s arm, but it was flush to the body.

Rowe bent a right-foot finish past the far post too from the edge of the area, but Parma were also reduced to 10 men and again it was a little harsh. Mariano Troilo received a second yellow card for jumping leading with an arm on Castro’s head.

Bernardeschi’s free kick skimmed the near top corner, but Riccardo Orsolini almost scored within a minute of coming off the bench, his acrobatic volley bouncing off the turf and then off the upright.

Just as Bologna were pushing for victory after playing down to 10 men for over an hour, they were punished at the 94^th minute by a sudden Christian Ordonez snapshot that went through Lucumi’s legs, meaning Lukasz Skorupski couldn’t see it until late as it slotted into the near bottom corner.

Even then, it wasn’t over, as Edoardo Corvi had to make two sensational reaction saves in the space of 60 seconds. First he was almost stunned by teammate Delprato’s bullet header from point-blank range, then he flew to fingertip an Orsolini volley out from under the crossbar.

Bologna 0-1 Parma

Ordonez 94 (P)

Sent off: Pobega 22 (B), Troilo 80 (P)