VERONA, ITALY – JANUARY 15: Santiago Castro of Bologna FC celebrates with teammate Riccardo Orsolini after scoring his team’s third goal during the Serie A match between Hellas Verona FC and Bologna FC 1909 at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on January 15, 2026 in Verona, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
Bologna fought back from an early goal with Riccardo Orsolini, Jens Odgaard and Santiago Castro stunners to beat Verona, ending a seven-round winless streak.
This Week 16 fixture was rescheduled from December due to Supercoppa Italiana commitments. Both were struggling for points lately, as while Hellas held Napoli to a 2-2 draw, that was their only positive result in four rounds. Grigoris Kastanos had flu, with Armel Bella-Kotchap, Martin Frese and Rafik Belghali joining Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro and Tomas Suslov on the absentee list. The Rossoblu were in even worse condition, managing three draws in seven Serie A games. Niccolò Cambiaghi began his two-match ban, with Jhon Lucumi and Federico Bernardeschi injured.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Riccardo Orsolini slipped at the crucial moment from seven yards after controlling a cross, then at the other end Antoine Bernede couldn’t keep the lob on target after Federico Ravaglia and Martin Vitik failed to communicate on a long ball.
Bologna’s ill-advised free kick routine was fumbled by Jens Odgaard, allowing Bernede to counter from his own penalty area to the other end, laying it off for Gift Orban to smash in from the edge of the box at the near post.
If a free kick routine sparked the Verona goal, it also allowed the Rossoblu to equalise. This time it was laid off for Orsolini to cut inside and bend a simply spectacular left-foot strike into the far top corner from just inside the area.
Santiago Castro tested Lorenzo Montipò and Orban’s header was off target, but Bologna turned it around when Benjamin Dominguez rolled across for Odgaard to sweep in with the inside of the left boot into the near bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega was inches away from nodding in an Orsolini corner at the back post, but he did provide the assist when knocking down a loose ball for Castro to let it bounce and smash a screamer in off the underside of the bar on the volley.
Amin Sarr’s acrobatic scissor-kick volley from a Roberto Gagliardini cross was just over the crossbar, then Giovane’s overhead kick was straight at Federico Ravaglia.
Hellas got back in the game when Orban went on the counter and Remo Freuler accidentally knocked the cross into his own net when getting the clearance all wrong.
They nearly equalised on 77 minutes from a corner when Ravaglia made a desperate save on Sarr from point-blank range, plus Gagliardini’s follow-up was also charged down.
Bologna fumbled a lead for a last-gasp equaliser against Como at the weekend, but held on for their first Serie A win since November.
Verona 2-3 Bologna
Orban 14 (V), Orsolini 21 (B), Odgaard 29 (B), Castro 43 (B), Freuler og 71 (V)
1
12
6
5
46′ 15
24
73
53′ 8
52′ 9
82′ 36
77′ 16
13
2
80′ 33
41
14
8
4
66′ 30
21
79′ 7
9
66′ 21
34
23
94
2
19
46′ 17
52′ 63
53′ 70
77′ 25
82′ 22
29
1
16
77
80
24
25
11
17
66′ 6
66′ 19
79′ 20
80′
