Both sides came into the clash in precarious positions. Sampdoria were without a win in this season’s Serie A as they sat bottom of the table, and had already made a managerial change by replacing Marco Giampaolo with Dejan Stankovic earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Bologna found themselves just three places higher, with Thiago Motta preparing for only his third match after taking over from Siniša Mihajlovic. As such, a tense start to the game was to be expected, with neither side able to sustain any pressure.
There wasn’t even as much as a shot on target before the 32nd minute, but the first such effort resulted in the opener.
Marko Arnautovic, Bologna’s talisman, played Michel Aebischer in with a wonderful flick, and the Switzerland international stung Emil Audero’s palms with a well-hit strike.
From the rebound, Dominguez bounced a shot into the corner.
The midfielder could have a second soon after, but his curler from outside the area hit the bar as Audero could only watch on. Tomas Rincon’s wild shot was Sampdoria’s best effort of the first 45 minutes - in other words, they were harmless.
Francesco Caputo was miles offside when he prodded beyond Lukasz Skorupski into the net after the interval, but it was at least a sign of intent from the visitors.
And, although they didn’t create too many clear-cut chances, they had an equaliser midway through the half. Mehdi Léris’ cross-cum-shot found its way to Djuricic, who directed a header into the empty net.
The rest of the encounter was evenly matched as both sides went in search of a winner, but neither produced the quality needed to grab all three points.
The result will not really please either manager, although Stankovic will be content with his side’s resilience after going behind. The draw also ended a run of seven consecutive head-to-head triumphs for Bologna, with Motta yet to taste victory in the Rossoblu dugout since his arrival.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nicolas Dominguez (Bologna)