Rome, April 21: Inter Milan has a history of recent struggles at Bologna and Sunday proved no different.
Riccardo Orsolini’s stoppage-time bicycle kick lifted Bologna to a 1-0 victory over the Serie A leader and left the Nerazzurri level with second-placed Napoli with five rounds remaining.
“It hurts conceding a goal like that seconds from the end,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. “But the season doesn’t end here in Bologna. We still have a lot of goals to chase and now we’ll bounce back.”
The defeat brought back memories of a goalkeeping blunder by Ionut Radu that gifted Bologna a victory three years ago, setting up the title for rival AC Milan. Inter also lost at Bologna the next season in a rain storm.
Inter won at Bologna last season but spent so much energy it couldn’t recover in time before getting eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League four days later.
This time, the match was decided when a long throw-in was flicked on by Inter defender Yann Bisseck toward Orsolini, who turned it in with an acrobatic left-footed volley to send the Renato Dall’Ara into delirium.
Inter is chasing a treble this season and also faces big upcoming games in the Champions League and Italian Cup, but coach Simone Inzaghi had labelled the Bologna visit as the biggest match of the season.
Now the Nerazzurri are deadlocked with Antonio Conte’s Napoli team, which isn’t involved in any other competitions and can devote all of its energy toward chasing a second title in three years.
Napoli won 1-0 at last-placed Monza on Saturday to heap more pressure onto Inter.
Bologna moved up to fourth, one point ahead of Juventus.
Inter next faces Milan in the second leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Wednesday (the first leg finished 1-1). Then after Roma visits the San Siro next weekend, Inter travels to face Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals.
And there could be another meeting with Bologna in the Cup final, after Bologna beat Empoli 3-0 in the first leg of the other semifinal.
If Inter and Napoli remain level on points at the end of the season, they will play each other in a single match to determine the Italian league champion.
Meanwhile, Atalanta beat Milan 1-0 to maintain its hold on third place, four points ahead of Bologna.
Atalanta midfielder Ederson finished off a counterattack with a header early in the second half. (AP)
