Serie A | Napoli 1-0 Bologna: Lobotka light at the end of the tunnel

Napoli scraped a 1-0 victory thanks to Stanislav Lobotka to stem the crisis, but Bologna’s disastrous campaign has them on one point from four rounds.

The Partenopei were in crisis after three consecutive defeats to Como, Inter and Arsenal. Alex Meret and Alisson Santos picked up injuries in that midweek Champions League loss, joining Scott McTominay, Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa, Giovane, Alessandro Buongiorno and Luca Marianucci on the treatment table. Kevin De Bruyne and Billy Gilmour only got their first starts of the season against Arsenal, but remained, with Antonio Vergara preferred to Noa Lang after disciplinary action.

Vergara nearly scored in the third minute when Emil Holm did enough to put him off when heading the De Bruyne cross, while Bologna did have the ball in the net on seven minutes thanks to Arthur Theate meeting a long Lewis Ferguson free kick, but his header was disallowed for offside.

De Bruyne turned over from the edge of the area on a Leonardo Spinazzola roll across, with Rasmus Hojlund’s diving header skimming an open goal on the Matteo Politano cross, as 18-year-old Pessina mistimed the intervention.

Vergara and Federico Bernardeschi tested the goalkeepers at either end, but Noa Lang and Costantino Favasuli were introduced for the restart, with Lang firing wide within 40 seconds, then Favasuli nutmegging Juan Miranda.

De Bruyne surged through the middle, denied by Theate and Ferguson flinging themselves in the way of the finish inside the penalty area.

Hojlund’s turn in a crowd was deflected inches wide of the far post, but the deadlock was finally broken when Favasuli pulled back from the by-line and Lobotka surprised Marco Libra to turn in through Pessina’s legs at the near post from six yards.

Pessina did well to deny a second, as he rushed off his line and held up a hand to keep out the Hojlund dinked finish on a Lobotka pass.

Bologna struggled to get back into the game until the final minutes, when Samuel Mbangula fired straight at Milinkovic-Savic and Enem couldn’t keep his header down.

Favasuli stung the goalkeeper’s gloves after an error playing out from the back, but Allegri was furious at Lorenzo Lucca in stoppages for ignoring Lang and going for goal on the counter.

It’s no secret where Bologna’s problems lie, as they failed to score in three out of four games.

Napoli 1-0 Bologna

Lobotka 66 (N)

13-09-2026 17:00

MatchDay 4

Player statistic

1st half

2nd half

Match statistic

58 Possession % 42

15 Total shots 5

3 Shots on target 2

7 Shots off target 3

5 Blocked shots 0

10 Corners 0

2 Offsides 3

15 Fouls 10

Napoli

Bologna

Starting lineups

32 Vanja Milinković-Savić Goalkeeper

13 Amir Rrahmani Defender

22 Giovanni Di Lorenzo Defender

37 Leonardo Spinazzola Defender

16 Rafa Marín Defender

26 Antonio Vergara Midfielder 46'

6 Billy Gilmour Midfielder

11 Kevin De Bruyne Midfielder 88'

68 Stanislav Lobotka Midfielder

21 Matteo Politano Attacker 46'

19 Rasmus Højlund Attacker 75'

25 Massimo Pessina Goalkeeper

3 Arthur Theate Defender

2 Emil Holm Defender

33 Juan Miranda Defender

14 Torbjørn Heggem Defender

19 Lewis Ferguson Midfielder

8 Mikel Amondarain Midfielder 66'

4 Tommaso Pobega Midfielder 58'

10 Federico Bernardeschi Attacker 82'

28 Nicolò Cambiaghi Attacker 82'

91 Roberto Piccoli Attacker 58'

Substitutes

14 Nikita Contini Goalkeeper

7 David Neres Attacker

5 Benoît Badiashile Defender

31 Sam Beukema Defender

12 Claudio Pugliese Goalkeeper

70 Noa Lang Attacker 46'

2 Costantino Favasuli Midfielder 46'

20 Lorenzo Lucca Attacker 75'

17 Mathías Olivera Defender 88'

29 Lorenzo De Silvestri Defender

1 Lukasz Skorupski Goalkeeper

16 Nicolò Casale Defender

41 Martin Vitik Defender

23 Rahim Alhassane Defender

5 Eivind Helland Defender

82 Matteo Franceschelli Goalkeeper

21 Jens Odgaard Attacker 58'

18 Marco Libra Midfielder 58'

6 Nikola Moro Midfielder 66'

22 Jay Enem Attacker 82'

11 Samuel Mbangula Attacker 82'