Riccardo Orsolini tops the Bologna scoring leaderboard this season, and his confidence was evident early on in the third minute when he attempted an ambitious curling shot from a tight angle, which struck the post.
The home side kept up the early pressure, as Benjamin Dominguez tested the reflexes of Emil Audero, before Orsolini missed another opportunity wide.
Around the middle of the half, a quick counterattack led to Jamie Vardy forcing Federico Ravaglia into an unconventional save with his legs, demonstrating that Cremonese could be dangerous on their infrequent forward moves.
However, Bologna failed to heed that warning, and after 30 minutes, a simple Matteo Bianchetti through ball bypassed the entire home defense, enabling Martin Payero to slot the opener past Ravaglia.
Five minutes later, things worsened for I Rossoblu as Vardy broke the offside trap to latch onto Federico Bonazzoli’s pass and fired into the bottom corner for 2-0.
The visitors seemed set to take their comfortable lead into halftime—until stoppage time, when Bianchetti handled the ball in the box, and although Audero guessed correctly, Orsolini’s penalty was too powerful for the keeper.
That moment shifted the mood dramatically, and Vincenzo Italiano’s team was expected to capitalize on that crucial boost.
Yet their hopes of equalizing were crushed just five minutes into the second half, when a diagonal pass to the right wing was expertly volleyed into the box by Tommaso Barbieri, and Vardy outpaced the goalkeeper to tap in his second goal of the game.
Ravaglia showed better reflexes just before the hour, turning a clever Payero flick from a corner onto the post to keep his side in the match.
In the last 20 minutes, Cremonese faced danger as a stunning volley from Orsolini took a fortunate deflection, and Federico Baschirotto accidentally redirected the ball onto his own crossbar before Santiago Castro missed two clear chances.
Despite Filippo Terracciano committing a contender for the season’s biggest miss at the other end, Cremonese held firm for their first head-to-head win since 1990, handing Bologna their first Serie A defeat since September.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jamie Vardy (Cremonese)
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