Serie A | Napoli 2-3 Bologna: Rowe stunning strike puts Conte top 4 in doubt

Napoli fought back from 2-0 down, but Bologna snatched a stunning 3-2 victory at the Stadio Maradona with Jonathan Rowe’s acrobatic volley, putting Champions League football back in doubt.

The Partenopei knew a victory would guarantee a top four finish, but Kevin De Bruyne was ruled out after a nasty clash of heads in training left him needing four stitches to his cheekbone. Romelu Lukaku and David Neres also missed out, though Giovanni Di Lorenzo returned for his first appearance since knee ligament damage on January 31. Bologna had Joao Mario back, but missed Martin Vitik, Nicolò Cambiaghi and Nicolò Casale, with Jonathan Rowe only fit for the bench. They had beaten Napoli 2-0 in Serie A earlier this season, but lost by the same result in the Supercoppa Italiana Final on December 22.

See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.

Bologna had a strong start and took the lead when Federico Bernardeschi combined with Juan Miranda to smash a ferocious left-foot strike into the far top corner.

It was nearly 2-0 moments later, as when Riccardo Orsolini was blocked off, it came to Miranda to fire onto the top of the upright.

Napoli tried to respond, twice testing Massimo Pessina with Giovane and Alisson Santos, then Scott McTominay’s glancing header flashed inches wide from an Alisson Santos corner.

Bologna had penalty appeals when Miranda got to the ball before Di Lorenzo and was caught on the boot, so it was given following the VAR review. Orsolini had never scored a goal against Napoli before in his career, but managed to squirm the spot-kick in despite Vanja Milinkovic-Savic getting a glove to it.

Joao Mario was booked for crashing into McTominay on the edge of the area, the referee opting for a yellow card and not sufficient for a straight red.

Di Lorenzo made up for his earlier error and marked his return after three months with a goal. Rasmus Hojlund held up Matteo Politano’s pass, it ricocheted off Remo Freuler into the captain’s path, who fired in off the underside of the bar from a tricky angle.

After the restart, Di Lorenzo’s glancing header on a Politano corner skimmed the crossbar, but Napoli completed the comeback moments later.

Hojlund laid it off down the left for Alisson Santos to sweep the angled drive into the far bottom corner with the inside of the right boot.

Politano forced a one-handed save from Pessina, as did Miguel Gutierrez with a cross-shot at the near post, while Amir Rrahmani blasted wide.