The new Bologna coach had huge shoes to fill after last season’s fifth-placed finish proved enough to nail down the club’s debut appearance in the UEFA Champions League proper.
There were also fears of what a Joshua Zirkzee-shaped hole might do to Bologna’s flow, but Riccardo Orsolini came close to giving his new boss a dream start in the eighth minute, after striking from the edge of the box and forcing Maduka Okoye into a fine two-handed save. As for Udinese, they were in no real mood to take a great risk so soon after avoiding relegation by just two points back in May.
The Zebretti duly failed to land a shot on target before the break, though they managed to stifle the pre-match favourites effectively. Indeed, their only real moments of tension came when Dan Ndoye twice received the ball in space inside the penalty box, only to shoot marginally wide of Okoye’s goal. And after Orsolini saw a goal disallowed early in the second half, the chances kept coming, as he again tested the Zebretti stopper at point-blank range after a ball across the box from Santiago Castro.
But a team under such pressure can never keep the opposition out forever, and the inevitable finally happened on 55’, as a failed clearance fell to Nikola Moro on the edge of the box.
He produced a venomous first-time shot that Jaka Bijol handled, and a penalty was the only possible outcome. Orsolini stepped up with a searing left-footed drive into the top corner opposite Okoye’s despairing dive, making it 11 conversions from a dozen Serie A spot kicks.
There had been absolutely nothing to suggest that Udinese would rally to take something home, but they won a penalty against the run of play when Lukasz Skorupski botched a tackle inside the box. He made up for that by correctly guessing the direction of Florian Thauvin’s subsequent penalty and sending the ball out for a corner.
But the Polish stopper immediately turned villain again, when Lautaro Gianetti planted in a header at the far post from the flag kick for a shock equaliser – and only his second-ever Serie A goal.
Understandably, the majority of those in the famous red and blue stripes began to tire and were unable to steal the points despite being granted five minutes of injury time. Bologna will need to be much more clinical if they are to fight effectively on two fronts this season, and it’s Udinese who will doubtless feel like the moral victors, having avoided losing a third consecutive opening SA matchday for the first time since 1961/62.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna)
