Bologna survive two penalty reviews to beat Monza 2-1
Tommaso Pobega's volley and a converted penalty from Federico Bernardeschi secured a third straight league win for Bologna, with goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski saving a late spot kick to protect the result against Monza, Football Italia reports.
Bologna needed Lukasz Skorupski to deny a second-half penalty before they could close out a 2-1 win over Monza at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, finally delivering their first home league victory of the season, according to Football Italia.
The win extended Bologna's run to three consecutive victories following away wins at Cagliari and Milan, the latter built on a Samuel Mbangula hat-trick. Monza arrived in the opposite shape, having lost three of their previous four matches.
A fast start punished by a conceded penalty
Bologna looked the sharper side inside the opening minute, with Jens Odgaard heading a Juan Miranda cross over the bar. That promise evaporated quickly. Arthur Theate dived into a loose ball with Dany Mota Carvalho and caught his opponent, giving away a penalty that Gustavo Varela converted inside six minutes.
The hosts had a route back almost immediately. Odgaard was denied by goalkeeper Noel Tornqvist at the near post, and Bernardeschi could not turn in the loose ball from the rebound. Those missed moments mattered little in the end, but they showed Bologna were already generating the kind of central penetration that would eventually produce the equaliser.
Monza's defending from dead-ball situations has been a recurring weakness this season, Football Italia notes, and it showed again when Tommaso Pobega peeled off his marker at a Miranda corner and struck a volley from 13 yards to level the match in the 33rd minute. The goal was a product of poor zonal tracking at the set piece rather than individual quality alone, with Pobega finding space that Monza's marking scheme should have closed.
Two VAR reviews decide the contest after the break
Bologna came out for the second half with visible intent, pressing high and appealing for a free kick on the edge of the box after Saba Goglichidze slid into Niccolo Cambiaghi. Moments later Lorenzo Lucchesi dragged back Theate as he competed for a header, and after a VAR review the referee pointed to the spot. Bernardeschi converted to put Bologna ahead for the first time in the 59th minute.
The pattern of marginal contact being upgraded by video review repeated itself at the other end. Nadir Zortea's arm, close to his body, deflected a Jay Robinson cross, and VAR intervened again to award Monza a second penalty. Patrick Cutrone stepped up this time, but Skorupski got down to parry the effort away, preserving Bologna's lead at a moment when the momentum had swung back toward the visitors.
Skorupski was called upon again in stoppage time, saving a Cutrone snapshot to seal the result. Those two interventions separated a hard-fought win from a dropped two points, and they came in a spell when Monza had the better of the pressure without finding the finish to match it.
Bologna's home form finally turns, Monza's slide continues
Bologna had gone the entire season without a home league win before this match, making the manner of the victory as significant as the three points themselves. Pairing it with consecutive away wins over Cagliari and Milan suggests a side building form across different contexts rather than one dependent on a single pattern of results.
Monza's defeat extends a difficult run that now reads three losses in four matches. Their list of absentees, including Michael Folorunsho, Yvan Maye, Jan Ziolkowski and Matteo Pessina, has thinned the squad at a time when they are already short of results. Late chances from Mbangula and Cutrone went unconverted, underlining a finishing problem that compounded the two missed penalties.
Bologna's attacking options should deepen further, with Riccardo Orsolini back in the matchday squad after injury, even as Roberto Piccoli, Jay Enem, Lorenzo De Silvestri and Emil Holm remain unavailable. Having found a way to win through a set-piece goal, a converted penalty and a crucial save, Bologna now take a run of three straight victories into their next fixture with their home form, long a concern, finally moving in the right direction.