Inter struggles at Bologna again and is left level with Napoli atop Serie A

ROME (AP) — Inter Milan has a history of recent struggles at Bologna and Sunday proved no different.

Riccardo Orsolini’s stoppage-time bicycle kick lifted Bologna to a 1-0 victory over the Serie A leader and left the Nerazzurri level with second-placed Napoli with five rounds remaining.

“It hurts conceding a goal like that seconds from the end,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. “But the season doesn’t end here in Bologna. We still have a lot of goals to chase and now we’ll bounce back.”

The defeat brought back memories of a goalkeeping blunder by Ionut Radu that gifted Bologna a victory three years ago, setting up the title for rival AC Milan. Inter also lost at Bologna the next season in a rain storm.

Inter won at Bologna last season but spent so much energy it couldn’t recover in time before getting eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League four days later.

This time, the match was decided when a long throw-in was flicked on by Inter defender Yann Bisseck toward Orsolini, who turned it in with an acrobatic left-footed volley to send the Renato Dall’Ara into delirium.

Inter is chasing a treble this season and also faces big upcoming games in the Champions League and Italian Cup, but coach Simone Inzaghi had labeled the Bologna visit as the biggest match of the season.

Now the Nerazzurri are deadlocked with Antonio Conte’s Napoli team, which isn’t involved in any other competitions and can devote all of its energy toward chasing a second title in three years.

Napoli won 1-0 at last-placed Monza on Saturday to heap more pressure onto Inter.

Bologna moved up to fourth, one point ahead of Juventus, which visits Parma on Monday.

Inter next faces Milan in the second leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Wednesday (the first leg finished 1-1). Then after Roma visits the San Siro next weekend, Inter travels to face Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals.

And there could be another meeting with Bologna in the Cup final, after Bologna beat Empoli 3-0 in the first leg of the other semifinal.

If Inter and Napoli remain level on points at the end of the season, they will play each other in a single match to determine the Italian league champion.

Atalanta beat Milan 1-0 to maintain its hold on third place, four points ahead of Bologna.

Atalanta midfielder Ederson finished off a counterattack with a header early in the second half.

Milan was left in ninth place, six points behind sixth-placed Roma and Italy's Conference League spot.

Also, Empoli and Venezia drew 2-2 – leaving both clubs in the relegation zone.

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Atalanta's Mateo Retegui fights for the ball against AC Milan's Tijjani Reijnders during the Serie A soccer match between Milan and Atalanta at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday April 20, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

AC Milan's Rafael Leao in action during the Serie A soccer match between Milan and Atalanta at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday April 20, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

AC Milan's Rafael Leao, left, and Atalanta's Juan Cuadrado in action during the Serie A soccer match between Milan and Atalanta at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday April 20, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Bologna's Riccardo Orsolini scores goal 1-0 during the Serie A soccer match between Bologna F.C. and F.C. Internazionale Milano at Renato Dall'Ara Stadium, Bologna, Italy, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Bologna's Dan Ndoye, left, and Inter's Alessandro Bastoni in action during the Serie A soccer match between Bologna F..C and F.C. Internazionale Milano at Renato Dall'Ara Stadium, Bologna, Italy, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Michele Nucci/LaPresse via AP)

Bologna's Sam Beukema and Inter's Lautaro Martinez, right, during the Serie A soccer match between Bologna F..C and F.C. Internazionale Milano at Renato Dall'Ara Stadium, Bologna, Italy, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Michele Nucci/LaPresse via AP)

Bologna's Riccardo Orsolini celebrates after scoring the goal 1-0 during the Serie A soccer match between Bologna F.C. and F.C. Internazionale Milano at Renato Dall'Ara Stadium, Bologna, Italy, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Michele Nucci/LaPresse via AP)

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Israel’s air force struck near Syria's presidential palace early Friday hours after warning Syrian authorities not to march toward villages inhabited by members of a minority sect in southern Syria.

The strike came after days of clashes between pro-Syrian government gunmen and fighters who belong to the Druze minority sect near the capital, Damascus. The clashes left dozens of people dead or wounded.

Friday's strike was Israel's second on Syria this week, and attacking an area close to the presidential palace appears to send a strong warning to Syria's new leadership that is mostly made up of Islamist groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

On Thursday, Syria's Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri harshly criticized Syria’s government for what he called an “unjustified genocidal attack” on the minority community.

The Israeli army said that fighter jets struck adjacent to the area of the Palace of President Hussein al-Sharaa in Damascus. Its statement gave no further details.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strike was a message to Syrian leaders. “This is a clear message to the Syrian regime. We will not allow a withdrawal of forces from south of Damascus and any danger to the Druze community,” their joint statement said.

Pro-government Syrian media outlets said the strike hit close to the People’s Palace on a hill overlooking the city.

The clashes broke out around midnight Monday after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man criticizing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. The audio was attributed to a Druze cleric. But cleric Marwan Kiwan said in a video posted on social media that he was not responsible for the audio, which angered many Sunni Muslims.

Syria’s Information Ministry said 11 members of the country’s security forces were killed in two separate attacks, while Britain-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 56 people in Sahnaya and the Druze-majority Damascus suburb of Jaramana were killed in clashes, among them local gunmen and security forces.

The Druze religious sect is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. More than half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria, largely in the southern Sweida province and some suburbs of Damascus.

Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

Syria's security forces are deployed at a highway where they found bodies of Syrian Druze fighters who were in a convoy heading from the southern Sweida province towards the capital, at al-Sor al-Kobra village near the Sweida town, southern Syria, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)