Riccardo Orsolini leads the Bologna scoring charts this season, and his confidence was plain to see as early as the third minute when he took on an ambitious curling shot from a tight angle, only to see the ball cannon off the post.
The hosts maintained the early pressure, as Benjamin Dominguez stung the gloves of Emil Audero, before Orsolini sliced another chance wide.
Midway through the half, a swift attack resulting in Jamie Vardy forcing Federico Ravaglia into an unorthodox save with his legs showed Cremonese could cause problems on their rare ventures forward.
But that was a warning Bologna ignored, and after half an hour, a simple Matteo Bianchetti ball over the top bypassed the whole home defence, allowing Martin Payero to steer the opener past Ravaglia.
Five minutes later, things got worse for I Rossoblu, as Vardy beat the offside trap to receive Federico Bonazzoli’s through ball and fire into the bottom corner for 2-0.
The visitors looked to have done enough to take their healthy lead into half-time – that was until added time, when Bianchetti committed a handball inside the area, and though Audero went the right way, Orsolini’s penalty had too much power for the goalkeeper.
That changed the atmosphere drastically, and Vincenzo Italiano’s side were expected to build on that much-needed fillip.
However, their plans to equalise were eviscerated just five minutes after the interval, when a diagonal ball out to the right wing was volleyed expertly into the area by Tommaso Barbieri, and Vardy beat the goalkeeper to the ball and tapped in his second of the match.
Ravaglia’s reactions were better just before the hour mark, with the stopper turning a deft Payero flick from a corner onto the post to keep the match alive.
In the final 20 minutes, Cremonese were living dangerously as a spectacular Orsolini volley took a welcome deflection, and Federico Baschirotto inadvertently diverted the ball onto his own crossbar before Santiago Castro spurned a pair of chances.
Despite Filippo Terracciano producing a candidate for miss of the season at the other end, Cremonese held out for a first H2H win since 1990, handing Bologna their first Serie A loss since September.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jamie Vardy (Cremonese)
