Ndiaye’s dismissal left Parma with ten men. Theate scored in the 53rd minute, Orsolini converted a penalty in the 73rd, and Sierro’s 81st-minute spot-kick gave Parma hope, but Bologna held on.
Bologna coach Raffaele Palladino praised his players’ maturity and their response to a difficult away fixture.
“I want to thank the players, who gave everything. I have seen great growth. We played with maturity, because this worried me a lot. Parma are a tough team and it is not easy to win or take points in this stadium,” he said.
Palladino said he changed his wide players to exploit the extra space.
“In the second half we changed things on the wings and put them on their stronger foot to make use of the numerical superiority,” he said. “The shame is that we conceded the penalty that brought Parma back into the game, and then we suffered, but you could see the character of the team.”
“Going down to ten men after only a few minutes is a disaster because all your plans disappear. Gilardino’s prepared game went out of the window and the match was affected,” he said. “It has happened to me too, and it is difficult. We took advantage of it.”
Parma coach Alberto Gilardino was angry with the defeat but preferred to focus on his players’ effort after being reduced to ten.
“I am quite angry, and I am not very clear-headed to assess the incidents. I would rather focus on the performance,” he said. “Playing 90 minutes with ten men is not simple, but we held our shape well. We had an incredible chance with Touré, then we got back into the game and, with a little luck, it could have changed.”
Gilardino also questioned the decision that led to Ndiaye’s dismissal, although he stopped short of making it the focus.
“I do not think there was a clear goalscoring opportunity in that incident. Looking at the image again, it seems more like a foul by Odgaard on Ndiaye,” he said. “Those are assessments made by the officials, and I do not want to keep talking about it.”
Skorupski produced a crucial late save, denying Parma a possible late equaliser.
Palladino insisted Bologna’s ambition remained unchanged: “We want to compete with everyone.”