Bologna secured their first Serie A victory of the season with a 2-1 win over Lecce on Sunday, giving new head coach Raffaele Palladino his first victory since taking charge of the club.
Riccardo Orsolini opened the scoring with a spectacular scissor-kick volley before Amar Fatah equalised for Lecce.
Jay Enem, however, netted the decisive goal to earn Bologna all three points at the Stadio Via del Mare.
Bologna entered the encounter without a league victory, despite Palladino earning a 1-1 draw against Torino in his first game following the dismissal of Domenico Tedesco.
The visitors were also without Samuel Mbangula, Jens Odgaard and the injured Emil Holm.
Lecce, who had beaten Venezia and Monza earlier in the campaign, were hoping to build on those results but suffered injury setbacks of their own, with Nikola Stulic and Medon Berisha unavailable.
Bologna took the lead in the 17th minute when Nicolò Cambiaghi delivered a cross from the left, allowing Orsolini to connect with an acrobatic volley from close range.
Lecce pushed for an equaliser, with Nadir Zortea testing Bologna goalkeeper Wladimiro Falcone.
The hosts also lost Ivan Ilic to injury in the 36th minute, adding to their difficulties.
The home side thought they had a penalty appeal when Paco Esteban went down following contact with goalkeeper Matteo Pessina after the restart.
However, the referee awarded a free kick to Bologna for an earlier foul by Esteban on Nicolò Casale.
Lecce continued to threaten and eventually drew level in the 64th minute.
Danilo Veiga sent a ball into the box, and goalkeeper Pessina misjudged his attempt to collect it, allowing Amar Fatah to head into an unguarded net from 12 yards.
Bologna goalkeeper Pessina was subsequently called into action to push Omar Ngom’s free kick over the crossbar as Lecce sought to take the lead.
The visitors restored their advantage in the 75th minute.
Orsolini initiated the move with a cross-field pass to Cambiaghi, who advanced down the left before delivering a low cross that Enem turned into the net with the outside of his right boot for his first Serie A goal.
Bologna were reduced to 10 men six minutes from time after Orsolini suffered a fresh muscular injury.
Having already used all their substitutes, the visitors had to continue with 10 players.
Lecce mounted a late push for another equaliser, but Pessina produced a fine save to keep out Lassana Coulibaly’s header following a cross from Konan N’Dri.
Willem Geubbels also missed an opportunity with a header that went over the bar.
Despite the late pressure, Bologna held on to claim their first league victory of the season, with Orsolini and Enem providing the goals in a crucial away win.
