Lewis Ferguson stars in huge Bologna victory but Scott McTominay's Napoli suffer Serie A title setback

Lewis Ferguson warmed up for his return to Scotland duty by captaining Bologna to a stunning victory in Serie A on Sunday.

The midfielder played the full match as Bologna claimed a remarkable 5-0 win over Lazio to give a huge boost to their hopes of returning to the Champions League next season.

The victory shot Bologna up the table from sixth up to fourth, into a Champions League berth, leapfrogging both Lazio and Juventus, with the latter crashing to a 3-0 defeat at Fiorentina.

Bologna captain Lewis Ferguson during the 5-0 win over Lazio. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Ferguson was one of the stars of the show at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara with no other players on the pitch winning more duels or making more tackles than the former Aberdeen man.

He also ranked highly for his 91 per cent passing accuracy, which included an assist on Bologna's third goal scored by Dan Ndoye. Jens Odgaard, Riccardo Orsolini, Santiago Castro and Giovanni Fabbian were also on target for the home side.

Ferguson will now join up with the Scotland squad for the Nations League play-off against Greece. It is the first time in 12 months that the 25-year-old has been called up after missing most of last year with a cruciate ligament injury.

His fellow Scotland team-mates, Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour, had a far less enjoyable weekend as their Napoli side suffered a major setback in their Serie A title bid.

Billy Gilmour of Napoli in action during the 0-0 draw with Venezia in Serie A. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Scottish duo started the match away to second bottom Venezia but were unable to lead their side to victory, with Napoli being held to a disappointing goalless draw.

The result allowed Inter Milan to open up a three-point lead at the top of the table after a 2-0 win away to third-placed Atalanta, with Napoli's form continuing to stutter.

Antonio Conte's side have won only one of their last seven in Serie A and are now playing catch up with just nine matches remaining having led the league for much of the campaign.

The sight of McTominay among the Napoli starters will have come as a welcome boost to Scotland head coach Steve Clarke after fears were expressed over the midfielder's fitness earlier this week.

McTominay’s participation in the match at Venezia was under threat as he had been suffering from adductor issue that was exacerbated towards the end of Napoli’s 2-1 win over Fiorentina last weekend.

Scott McTominay of Napoli in action during the 0-0 draw with Venezia at Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Scot had to be replaced on 86 minutes by Philip Billing when going down in some discomfort and media reports in Italy suggested that Conte had been giving the player a lighter workload in a bid to maintain his availability for the trip to north-eastern Italy.

McTominay completed the full 90 minutes with Gilmour, who has started the past three matches after a long spell on the bench, replaced after 77 minutes by Frank Anguissa.

Elsewhere in Serie A this weekend, Che Adams emerged victorious in the battle of the Scots as his Torino side claimed a 1-0 win over Liam Henderson's Empoli on Saturday.

Both players started for their respective sides with Adams lasting the full 90 minutes while Henderson was replaced in the 86th minute. The defeat leaves Empoli in the relegation zone, three points from safety, while Torino are mid-table with an outside hope of still getting into the mix for the European places.

In Serie B, Josh Doig took one step closer to a league winner's medal as his Sassuolo side maintained their nine-point lead at the top of the table with a 2-1 win at Cittadella. Ex-Hibs left-back Doig played the full match.