Vincenzo Italiano feels Bologna ‘dominated the second half’ against Napoli, but he will take the point and performance. ‘This must be the mentality in these final rounds of the season.’
It was a game of two halves at the Stadio Dall’Ara, because while the Partenopei had the best of the early play and took the lead through an Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa solo run from midfield, the hosts dominated after the restart.
Dan Ndoye equalised with a spectacular back-heel flick off the underside of the crossbar and they pinned Napoli back into their own half, but were unable to make the pressure count.
“The last chance with Castro was really frustrating, because that was a move worth three points, we should’ve finished it off,” Italiano told DAZN.
“It would’ve been the right reward for a great second half performance. If Castro had reacted a bit quicker, he could’ve scored. Napoli were better in the first half, we pinned them back into their own area for the second.
“We’ll take the point and that fantastic performance from the lads.”
A win would’ve allowed Bologna to leapfrog Atalanta into third place, but instead they remain fourth, cutting the gap to one point.
Italiano sees Bologna on right track
This result ended a run of six consecutive victories in all competition, which also saw Italiano named Serie A Coach of the Month.
“A draw against one of the best teams in Serie A is still very good, a team where you can risk on the counter-attack, but at the end of the day we keep the run of positive results going, but also build on the quality of our performances,” added Italiano.
“I told the lads in the dressing room this must be the attitude and mentality we have in these final rounds of the season. We know that it’s a difficult fixture list against the top clubs, but we showed such a strong reaction to going behind against a Napoli side that will fight to the end for the Scudetto.
“That bodes well and we must keep that mentality in the final games, trying to make more of the momentum when we start to really control matches. Miranda and Holm put a lot of balls into the box tonight, and I think we could’ve made more of those chances.”