Napoli suffered a damaging 3-2 home defeat to Bologna after Jonathan Rowe’s stoppage-time winner tightened the Serie A top-four race.
Napoli missed a huge chance to secure their Champions League place after Bologna snatched a dramatic 3-2 victory at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Monday night. Jonathan Rowe’s stoppage-time winner completed a stunning comeback blow and left the Serie A top-four race wide open with two rounds remaining.
Antonio Conte’s side remain second in the standings on 70 points, but their advantage over the chasing pack has narrowed significantly. Juventus sit two points behind in third, while AC Milan and Roma are only three points back.
The visitors stunned the home crowd with an electric start and deservedly took the lead after nine minutes. Federico Bernardeschi exchanged passes with Juan Miranda before unleashing a brilliant strike into the top-right corner beyond Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
Bologna almost doubled their lead moments later when Miranda struck the crossbar with a fierce effort from inside the area. Napoli struggled to settle and looked vulnerable whenever Bologna attacked at speed. Scott McTominay headed narrowly wide from a corner during Napoli’s best spell of the first half. However, Conte’s frustration grew further when Giovanni Di Lorenzo fouled Miranda inside the area following a VAR review.
Riccardo Orsolini stepped up in the 34th minute and converted the resulting penalty despite Milinkovic-Savic getting a hand to the effort. Bologna had full control and looked capable of adding more before the interval.
Napoli finally found a route back into the contest deep into first-half stoppage time. Rasmus Hojlund benefited from a fortunate deflection before laying the ball into the path of Di Lorenzo, who blasted home from close range to make it 2-1.
That goal changed the mood around the stadium and Napoli carried the momentum into the second half. Just three minutes after the restart, the hosts completed their comeback through Alisson Santos. Di Lorenzo launched a long pass forward which Hojlund controlled well before teeing up Santos. The Brazilian midfielder struck first time into the bottom corner to level the score at 2-2.
Both sides pushed for a winner during an increasingly open contest. Bologna threatened through Bernardeschi and Miranda, while Napoli searched for a decisive moment through McTominay and Santos.
The winning goal arrived in stoppage time and silenced the Maradona. Miranda’s powerful shot was parried by Milinkovic-Savic, but substitute Jonathan Rowe reacted quickest to acrobatically volley the rebound into the net in the 91st minute.
Napoli could not find another response as Bologna celebrated a massive away victory. The defeat was only Napoli’s second home league loss of the season and continued an alarming recent trend at the Maradona. Conte’s side have now lost two of their last three Serie A matches at home. Bologna also completed a league double over Napoli for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign.
Napoli finished with 14 shots and five efforts on target but struggled to create clear opportunities consistently. Bologna registered 10 attempts and produced the better expected goals tally at 1.32 compared to Napoli’s 0.85. The visitors were clinical in key moments and defended strongly for long periods despite Napoli enjoying more possession. Bologna’s late winner also marked the latest goal they have scored against Napoli in Serie A since 2014.
Bernardeschi produced one of his best displays of the season and opened the scoring with a superb finish. Miranda also impressed throughout the contest and played a role in all three Bologna goals. Rowe made the decisive impact from the bench with his dramatic stoppage-time winner. Orsolini also remained composed under pressure to convert his first-half penalty.
For Napoli, Di Lorenzo recovered from conceding the penalty to score and assist during the comeback. Hojlund also played an important creative role with two clever assists in the second half.
Napoli now head into their final two matches under huge pressure as the race for Champions League qualification tightens. Bologna, meanwhile, moved into eighth place and ended a difficult run after failing to score in their previous three league games.
