Verona-Bologna 2-1, two goals from Verdi and a goal from Dominguez

In the opening match of the 31st day of the championship, Verona hits the second victory in the last three games, beats Bologna 2-1 and catches Spezia at an altitude of 26, sucking the Ligurian team into the relegation zone. The match winner was Verdi, who scored a penalty in the second half and doubled the lead with a header in the second half. In the 94th minute Dominguez halves the deficit. Zaffaroni recovers Lazovic and Doig, but above all he chooses to send Gaich and not Djuric onto the field. Out Arnautovic, Cambiaso and Soriano, Thiago Motta responds with Zirkzee in the trident together with Aebischer and Barrow. Cautious start by both, with Bologna betting on ball possession to avoid trouble, put the game to sleep and wait for the right moment to sink the shots. Verona is not there, which after about ten minutes takes courage and changes gears.

Advantage Verona

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Verdi is the emblem of the gialloblù transformation: on 12 minutes one of his assists triggers Lasagna, stopped by Skorupski. In two minutes it was Verdi himself who attempted the shot, with the goalkeeper first blocking his left foot and then deflecting his right foot for a corner on the run. Bologna responds with Dominguez calling Montipò into question. In the 22nd minute a foul by Posch on Depaoli made the penalty shoot out, but the Var established that the irregularity took place outside the area. The hosts lost two players to injury: in the 30th minute Abildgaard accused of dizziness with blurred vision (for which he was taken to hospital for tests) and made way for Duda; in the 40th minute it was up to Lasagna to forfeit and Lazetic replaced him. In the 41st minute Bologna finds the shot with Zirkzee, Montipò opposes it instinctively. In the 48th minute the mother scene: in an outing Skorupski hits Gaich’s face with an arm and for the Var it is a penalty: Verdi makes no mistake from the penalty spot, in the 51st minute. For the record, the first half will end after more than 56 minutes.

Verdi grants an encore

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The second half opens with three changes: in Verona there is Djurc in place of Gaich, in Bologna Orsolini and Moro for Aebischer and Barrow. The race is immediately intense and fought, with no holds barred. Faraoni first gets himself booked (and misses the next one, against Cremonese), then he makes up for it by making a perfect cross for Verdi’s head and in the 62nd minute Verona takes it up 2-0. The Emilians do not give up but the hosts have a good game in closing the spaces and Bologna are no longer able to get to the shot, except for a fiery finish. Not even the Gialloblù made themselves more dangerous, but the finish was entirely Bolognese: in the 94th minute Dominguez halved the disadvantage with a lob, and three minutes later Orsolini sensationally missed the chance to equalise.