Favasuli seals the victory; Napoli defeats Bologna

Napoli bounces back: After three straight losses, Allegri’s team returns to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Bologna at the Maradona Stadium in their fourth league match of the season. Lobotka decided the match, set up by a stellar Favasuli, who came on in the second half and injected new energy into the entire Neapolitan squad. Napoli thus climbs to 6 points in the standings, sitting in ninth place, while Bologna remains stuck on one point.

The first half lacked pace and excitement. After Bologna had a goal disallowed early on (Theate scored with a header but was offside), Napoli took control of the game, but their play lacked threat, and the Rossoblù were well-organized on the field, closing down all the spaces. The Neapolitans threatened only on a couple of occasions through Vergara and De Bruyne, who lacked precision.

At halftime, Allegri made two substitutions: Lang came on for Vergara, while Favasuli replaced Politano. The Azzurri decisively took control of the game, while Bologna struggled to create chances. In the 66th minute, the home team found the right move: the newly substituted Favasuli found Lobotka in the box, who beat Pessina.

The visitors wavered, and Hojlund nearly doubled the lead a minute later, but Pessina denied him. Napoli controlled the game, while Bologna seemed out of ideas and couldn’t get back into it. In the 86th minute, the Emilia-Romagna side had a chance through Mbangula, but Milinkovic-Savic was alert. In stoppage time, Pessina prevented Napoli from making it 2-0 by making a save against the excellent Favasuli.