Bologna held to 1-1 home draw against Udinese

The race for top five in Serie A took another interesting twist early Sunday after Bologna were held by Udinese to a 1-1 home draw.

The Rossoblu failed to take advantage of the opportunity to leapfrog Juventus for third in the standings—rescued by a late goal from attacker Alexis Saelemaekers. Despite having 65% possession, Bologna failed to create clear-cut chances, ending the match with an xG [expected goals] figure of 0.72.

Though, they had to play with 10 men in the final 25 minutes after defender Sam Beukema was sent off. Meanwhile, the Friulians earned a vital point in their race to avoid relegation thanks to Martín Payero’s goal just before the break.

Reacting to the result, Bologna boss Thiago Motta, who’s reportedly agreed to become Juve’s head coach next season, admitted his team didn’t do enough against the Zebrette.

“It was a complicated match against a team that’s in a very difficult position in the standings,” he said in his post-match press conference.

“They did all they could to prevent us from playing our football or counter-attacking. We weren’t perfect, but it’s still a point. Frankly, we only played for 31 of the 101 minutes.”

Adding, “Considering we played most of the second half down a man, a point isn’t terrible.”