Musa Barrow scored his first goal of the season as Bologna suffered a 4-2 defeat against Empoli in Serie A on Sunday.
The Gambia international had featured in four league games for the Blues without success in front of goal. Against Aurelio Andreazzoli’s Blues, he found the net but that could not prevent his team from losing.
Following their 2-2 home draw with Genoa their last time out, Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men travelled to the Stadio Carlo Castellani with the aspiration of securing their first away win of the season.
They got off to a stuttering start in the very first minute when Liam Henderson’s misplaced pass deflected off Kevin Bonifazi and past goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski – leading into an own goal.
Ten minutes later, Barrow responded for the visiting side after burying the ball past goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario following a well-taken free-kick from Danish forward Andreas Skov Olsen.
Nine minutes later, they had a chance to take the lead for the first time after winning a penalty. Notwithstanding, Marko Arnautovic hit the ensuing kick against the woodwork.
Both teams continued to attack but it was Andreazzoli’s side who took the lead when Andrea Pinamonti beat goalkeeper Skorupski from close range following an assist from Petar Stojanovic.
In the 54th minute, Nedim Barjami gave Empoli a two-goal advantage from the penalty spot. Bologna almost reduced the deficit, but Barrow and Arnautovic hit the crossbar in quick succession.
With 13 minutes left on the clock, Arnautovic scored his fourth goal of the season to hand his team a glimmer of hope, only to miss a later effort when he hit the woodwork.
Samuele Ricci powered rifled home a beauty from outside the box in the 90th minute to guarantee maximum points for his side.
Barrow was in action from start to finish for Bologna, while Senegal international Ibrahima Mbaye was an unused substitute. Nigeria’s Kingsley Michael was not listed for action.
Following this result, the Red and Blues occupy the 10th position in the log after accounting for just eight points in six matches.
They will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways when they try Lazio for size on October 3.