Cagliari postpones the mathematical survival debate: they drew 0-0 at Bologna in a poor match, and the certainty of staying in Serie A cannot be achieved tomorrow after Cremonese-Lazio.
Cagliari played a 4-3-3, with Esposito as the central striker, flanked by Palestra and Folorunsho . Kick-off followed a heartfelt minute's silence in memory of Alex Zanardi, who passed away yesterday and was originally from Bologna. Cagliari would have scored in the 3rd minute: a scramble in the box, Dossena's header was blocked by Deiola, who was found offside (twice). There was a rather lengthy check to assess a possible handball in the box early in the move, but then the referee gave the green light. Deiola was also found offside in the 10th minute, when he passed to Esposito, whose right-footed effort was parried by Pessina.
The 17th minute move should also have been evaluated for possible offside by Esposito: Adopo found number 94 in the middle, and he passed it to Deiola on the edge of the box. Deiola had a clear goal, but incredibly, he sent it wide to Pessina's right . He was in a safe position, Esposito perhaps not, but either way, it was a misplaced play and a serious error. A real shot on target would have to wait until the 26th minute, when Bernardeschi found space for a left-footed shot from the edge of the box, and Caprile dived to block.
The two-minute cooling-off period in the 28th minute gave the teams a chance to cool down (Bologna finished 23rd) after a first half that was completely lacking in pace. And things didn't change when play resumed. Indeed, play was further disrupted by Deiola's right thigh injury, which forced him to make way for former player Sulemana in the 42nd minute .
Something happened—despite the very little seen in the first half—in the 44th minute: Palestra first ran down the flank and crossed for Folorunsho, who was beaten to the ball. On the counterattack, Bernardeschi crossed from the right for Sohm, who Mina did well to block. In the 45th minute, Gaetano played Esposito on the left in the box, but his left-footed shot was saved in two stages by Pessina . Then, there was a check for contact in the box between Domínguez and Mina, with the former falling; the referee allowed play to continue. There were five minutes of added time, and in the 49th minute, Sulemana's right-footed shot deflected just wide.
Bologna-Cagliari resumed with Rowe replacing Sohm, Italiano switching to a 4-2-3-1 with Bernardeschi as the attacking midfielder. The first yellow card came in the 52nd minute, for Adopo holding Domínguez on the wing. A shot on target came in the 55th minute, with Moro's right-footed strike from the edge of the area causing Caprile to dive . In the 63rd minute, Italiano made a double substitution, with Castro and Orsolini (two key players initially left on the bench) replacing Odgaard and Domínguez.
Following a Miranda corner in the 66th minute, Lucumí headed the ball toward the near post but missed the target. A minute later, Castro entered the area from the left, and Caprile blocked his left-footed shot. Helland was booked for a rough challenge on Folorunsho, and shortly thereafter, another cooling-off period. At the restart (73rd minute), Cagliari replaced Esposito with Mendy .
Bologna made another substitution in the 78th minute, with Ferguson replacing Bernardeschi, who was now tired. With ten minutes remaining, Cagliari had a big opportunity: from a corner, Folorunsho, after an initial attempt blocked by Pessina, performed an overhead kick and provided a perfect assist for Zé Pedro, who, completely free on the edge of the six-yard box, fired high and missed . Bologna's final substitution saw former Cagliari player Zortea replace De Silvestri in the 85th minute.
After Moro's shot wide in the 89th minute, Pisacane completed the slots with Zappa for Adopo. The six minutes of injury time, slightly extended due to a collision between Rowe and Sulemana, did not change the outcome of the Bologna-Cagliari match.
