Niccolini: ‘Bologna have a wonderful group of players and people’

Bologna assistant Daniel Niccolini says that Bologna have a ‘wonderful group of players and people’ at their disposal after watching them record a memorable 2-0 victory over reigning Serie A champions Napoli at the Dall’Ara in Serie A on Sunday afternoon. 

Second-half strikes from Thiijs Dallinga and Jhon Lucumi gave the Rossoblu a 2-0 victory over the Partenopei, which has pushed them up to fourth place in the Serie A standings, albeit with Roma (5th) still left to play this weekend. 

You can see how the action from Sunday’s Serie A matches unfolds on the Football Italia liveblog.

It wasn’t the ideal first half for the Rossoblu, who lost Lukasz Skorupski after eight minutes and gave 17-year-old Massimo Pessina his debut, then Jonathan Rowe went off injured at half-time too.

Nonetheless, they managed to see off reigning Champions of Italy Napoli 2-0 thanks to goals from Thijs Dallinga and Jhon Lucumi, the defender getting the first Serie A goal of his career.

Vincenzo Italiano is still not up to interviews, even if he is back on the bench now after his recent hospital stay for pneumonia.

“It really was emotional to see Pessina in tears at the final whistle as his teammates raised him up. This is such a wonderful group of players and people,” Niccolini told DAZN Italia.

“We try to keep everyone involved in the project, they all know what they have to do. It is not easy to play every two to three days, but we managed to put in another great performance against a top team, and we are very happy.”

Bologna won the Coppa Italia last season, and were participating in the Champions League, so should they even be surprising anymore?

“This is a period where we are doing well, getting results, we are pleased with the table and will enjoy it, but have to take it one game at a time. That is our strength, not looking too far into the long-term.”