Headline: Davide Frattesi Scores Winner as Gattuso Adjacent Lazio Secures Victory Over Bologna
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Lazio marked the opening of the Serie A season with a 1-0 win against Bologna on Monday evening, courtesy of an immediate goal from summer signing and Italy international Davide Frattesi. This match at the Dall’Ara marked Gennaro Gattuso’s debut as head coach of Lazio.
Bologna’s head coach Domenico Tedesco also faced the challenge of his first competitive match in charge. Despite a recent defeat in the Coppa Italia by Mantova, Gattuso kept the same lineup for this league encounter, with key players including Matteo Cancellieri, Boulaye Dia, and Mattia Zaccagni leading the attack.
The match began with an evenly fought first half, lacking significant quality in the attacking thirds. Possession statistics indicated a closely contested game, with Bologna having 54% and Lazio 46%. In terms of attempts, Bologna recorded four shots compared to Lazio’s five, but both teams managed only one shot on target, neither particularly menacing.
Discipline played a pivotal role in the first half, with five yellow cards handed out. Tedesco was shown a red card for excessive complaints, marking an eventful entrée into Serie A management.
Both teams threatened early on, with Zaccagni narrowly missing a chance and Bologna’s Roberto Piccoli creating a half-chance from a difficult delivery. The best opportunity of the half for Bologna came from Nadir Zortea, whose effort was deflected off Oliver Provstgaard, causing relief for Lazio’s goalkeeper Christos Mandas when the shot went behind for a corner.
Lazio netted the only goal midway through the second half after Gattuso brought on Frattesi, who made an instant impact. Just four minutes into his appearance, he converted Dia’s clever setup with a confident finish.
Bologna attempted to respond, notably with a free-kick from Federico Bernardeschi that Mandas magnificently tipped onto the post with just a quarter-hour remaining.
With the season just begun, Lazio has positioned themselves in joint-sixth place in the Serie A standings, while Bologna sits joint-15th after the initial round of matches.
An immediate goal from summer signing and Italy international Davide Frattesi gave new Lazio head coach Gennaro Gattuso a 1-0 victory in his first Serie A match in charge away against Bologna at the Dall’Ara on Monday evening.
This was Domenico Tedesco’s first competitive match in charge of Bologna and Gattuso’s first league match as head coach of Lazio.
BOLOGNA, ITALY – AUGUST 24: Gennaro Gattuso, Head Coach of Lazio, interacts with Domenico Tedesco, Head Coach of Bologna FC 1909 before the Serie A match between Bologna FC and SS Lazio at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on August 24, 2026 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)
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Tedesco handed a first league start to summer recruit Roberto Piccoli at centre-forward, while Gattuso named an unchanged starting XI despite Lazio’s Coppa Italia first-round defeat by Mantova last weekend, led by Matteo Cancellieri, Bobulaye Dia and Mattia Zaccagni in attack.
You can see how the action unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog.
It was an end-to-end and evenly-contested first half at the Dall’Ara in an opening 45 minutes that was lacking in quality in either final third. The half-time stats tell the story: A 46:54 spread of possession, four shots for Bologna, five for Lazio but only one apiece on target, neither of which were particularly threatening.
Petty fouls also had an impact on the first half: There were five yellow cards dished out before the interval and Bologna head coach Tedesco was sent off in his first Serie A match in charge of the Rossoblu for his excessive complaints on the touchline.
BOLOGNA, ITALY – AUGUST 24: Andrea Tarozzi, Assistant Coach of Bologna FC 1909 reacts during the Serie A match between Bologna FC and SS Lazio at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on August 24, 2026 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)
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Zaccagni squeezed a shot just wide of the post from the left-hand side of the area early on. Piccoli briefly threatened down at the other end with a swivelling half-volley from an awkward corner delivery.
Nadir Zortea came up with Bologna’s most threatening effort of the first half, but that was only because of an enormous deflection off Oliver Provstgaard that completely wrong-footed Christos Mandas in goal. He was relieved to see it bounce behind for a corner.
Boulaye Dia did have the ball in the back of the net midway through the half, but was clearly in an offside position when Danilho Doekhi sent a long ball over the top.
Lazio’s only shot on target of the first half came from a tamely-hit Pedraza shot from the edge of the area, which caused no issue at all for Lukasz Skorupski.
BOLOGNA, ITALY – AUGUST 24: Boulaye Dia of Lazio clashes with Oussama El Azzouzi of Bologna FC 1909 during the Serie A match between Bologna FC and SS Lazio at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on August 24, 2026 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)
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The first moment of real quality came from Lazio goalkeeper Christos Mandas just after half-time: Lewis Ferguson delivered the cross after a short, quick corner from Juan Miranda, and Mandas, back from his loan spell with Bournemouth, pulled out an excellent save at full stretch to stop Jens Odgaard’s header, which would have otherwise ended up in the bottom corner of the net.
The defining moment of the second half was the introduction of Italy international Frattesi, who has recently joined Lazio on loan with a buy option from Inter.
It took just four minutes for Frattesi to score with what was his first shot of the game, and his first in a competitive match for Lazio. Dia did excellently to send the Italian through on goal with a flick around the corner, and Frattesi made no mistake in dispatching past Skorupski with a first-time finish.
BOLOGNA, ITALY – AUGUST 24: Davide Frattesi of Lazio celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with teammates Kenneth Taylor and Mattia Zaccagni during the Serie A match between Bologna FC and SS Lazio at Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on August 24, 2026 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)
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The best response that Bologna could come up with before full-time was a Federico Bernardeschi free-kick, which was tipped onto the post by the fingertip of the impressive Mandas a quarter of an hour before the 90th minute.
We are only one game into the 2026-27 Serie A season, but Lazio currently find themselves in joint-sixth in the standings, while Bologna end the opening weekend in joint-15th.
Frattesi 59′.
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