BOLOGNA, Feb 26 — Inter Milan suffered a damaging 1-0 defeat at Bologna today which virtually ended their slim hopes of winning the Serie A title.

At the same ground where their title aspirations were dealt a fatal blow last season, Riccardo Orsolini’s goal condemned Inter to another loss.

Simone Inzaghi’s team are second in the standings on 47 points from 24 matches, 18 behind leaders Napoli who beat Empoli 2-0 on Saturday. Bologna stayed 13th on 42 points.

Bologna thought they had taken the lead through Musa Barrow in the 12th minute, only for the effort to be ruled out following a VAR review.

Inter had brief spells of possession in the first half, but created few clear-cut chances as Lautaro Martinez headed an Alessandro Bastoni cross just wide of the target and Henrikh Mkhitaryan twice fired over the bar.

Bologna continued to press forward after the break, and Andre Onana kept his side in the game with two crucial saves in quick succession, getting a hand to a Roberto Soriano shot before smothering Dominguez’s effort from the edge of the area.

Romelu Lukaku and substitute Edin Dzeko each had a shot on target, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock in the 76th minute when Orsolini raced on to Jerdy Schouten’s pass and powered a shot into the net.

In April last year, Bologna recorded a 2-1 home win over Inter, which gave the Nerazzurri’s rivals AC Milan the momentum in the title race. — Reuters