Pisa-Bologna 0-1
GOALS: 45’st Odgaard.
PISA (3-5-2): Nicolas 6; Calabresi 6 (25’st Canestrelli 6), Caracciolo 6.5 (46’st Iling-Junior sv), Coppola 6; Leris 6, Marin 6, Aebischer 6.5, Hojholt 5.5 (25’st Piccinini 5.5), Angori 6 (18’st Cuadrado 6); Moreo 6.5, Durosinmi 6 (18’st Stojilkovic 6). On the bench: Luppichini, Semper, Bozhinov, Albiol, Akinsanmiro, Stengs, Toure, Loyola, Tramoni, Meister. Coach: Hiljemark 5.
BOLOGNA (4-3-3): Skorupski 7; Zortea 6, Lucumi 6, Vitik 6 (21’st Casale 6), Joao Mario 5.5 (29’st De Silvestri 6); Sohm 5.5 (19’st Odgaard 7), Freuler 6, Moro 6; Cambiaghi 5.5 (29’st Rowe 6), Castro 5, Bernardeschi 5.5 (18’st Orsolini 5.5). On the bench: Ravaglia, Pessina, Helland, Pobega, Ferguson, Dominguez, Dallinga. Coach: Italian 6.
REFEREE: Feliciani of Teramo 6.
NOTES: clear evening, pitch in fair condition. Booked: Freuler, Lucumi. Corners: 7-4. Recovery time: 5′, 4’+1.
An ugly and tired Bologna beat Pisa 1-0 at the Cetilar Arena: Odgaard’s pearl in the ninetieth minute and Skorupski’s saves gave Italiano his third consecutive championship success. Pisa, not very proactive for a good hour of play, only woke up in the final half hour, but it wasn’t enough. Hiljemark’s not very courageous training choices certainly didn’t contribute.
First half
After a good start for Pisa, Bologna begins to take the field around the middle of the first half. A pinch of inaccuracy and bad luck, however, prevented the guests from taking the lead at half-time. In the 24th minute Castro has the first great chance of the match: following Caracciolo’s failure to anticipate, the Argentine finds himself alone in front of Nicolas, but he shoots incredibly high. Thanks then to an enlightening pass from Moro, Castro tries again in the 35th minute, this time hitting the post from the right of the penalty area. In the 21st minute Casale came on in place of Vitik, who was out due to injury.
Second half
Even with effort and little quality, Pisa’s offensive danger increased in the second half. Between the 59th and 61st minutes Skorupski had to intervene on two occasions to secure the goal. The Polish goalkeeper first comes out on Marin’s cross, anticipating Leris’s shot into an empty net, then raises Moreo’s header over the crossbar following a corner. The evening of grace for the rossoblù number one, however, is not over yet. In fact, in the 78th minute Skorupski was also providential on the attempt from the spot by the substitute Piccinini. In the 81st minute, however, it was Casale who saved Stojilkovic’s header on the line. Not even with the Italian substitutions did Bologna manage to break through. To unlock the result, a single player is needed. In the 90th minute, Odgaard took care of taking things out of the fire, scoring the 1-0 goal: the Norwegian attacker controlled the ball and fired a precise left-footed shot from outside the area which went under the top corner. Bologna doesn’t shine, but in the end they win, overtaking Sassuolo in the standings and regaining eighth place, at 39 points. Pisa, on the other hand, remains with 15 points and is now increasingly lower.