Fighting leukemia, Mihajlovic inspires Bologna to 2nd place

Piatek penalty gives Milan win over 10-man Verona

ROME, Sept 16, (AP): Sinisa Mihajlovic’s fight against leukemia continues to inspire Bologna, who have surprisingly surged into second place three rounds into Serie A.

The coach was absent for the 4-3 comeback win over 10-man Brescia but his halftime speech via telephone from the hospital where he is undergoing chemotherapy made a resounding impact.

“We’re playing like this thanks to his mentality. At the end of the first half he transmitted his anger to us,” Bologna forward Rodrigo Palacio said. “In the second half we came out with the necessary desire and a great mentality.”

When Bologna arrived back home hours after the match, the team bus stopped at the Sant’Orsola hospital where Mihajlovic is being treated and the players chanted their coach’s name until he popped his head outside his window and waved to them.

Brescia led 3-1 at the break with a brace from Alfredo Donnarumma but Daniela Dessena was sent off after a dive early in the second half. Palacio then started the comeback, which was followed by an own-goal from Brescia’s Stefano Sabelli and the winner from Riccardo Orsolini.

Mattia Bani scored Brescia’s opening goal and Andrea Cistana scored Brescia’s third.

It’s the first time Bologna have gained seven points from their opening three matches in 17 years.

Bologna are two points behind perfect Inter Milan and ahead of eight-time defending champions Juventus on goals scored (six to five).

Torino can extend their perfect start against promoted Lecce on Monday.

In the previous round, Bologna beat SPAL 1-0 with an injury-time goal from Roberto Soriano.

Mihajlovic surprised his squad by traveling with his hospital band still on to the season-opener at Hellas Verona, which ended 1-1.

Mihajlovic was rehired by Bologna in January to replace Filippo Inzaghi and engineered a complete turnaround for a team that was fighting off relegation, leading the club to a 10th place finish.

Mihajlovic

When Mihajlovic announced in July that he had an acute form of leukemia, the club said it would still keep him in charge.

Brescia are still without Mario Balotelli, who is serving a fourmatch ban from last season in the French league.

Roma earned their first win under new coach Paulo Fonseca with a four-goal outburst in the first half of a 4-2 victory over Sassuolo.

Bryan Cristante, Edin Dzeko, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Justin Kluivert each scored before halftime with a trio of assists from Lorenzo Pellegrini.

Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini (left), vies for the ball with Sassuolo’s Pedro Obiang during a Serie A soccer match between Roma and Sassuolo in

Rome on Sept 15. (AP)