Benjamin Dominguez struck for Bologna to cancel out Lorenzo Colombo's opener for the hosts.
“We cannot always have the same intensity and tempo, even if you hope to do so,” Italiano told Sky Italia.
“Empoli also deserve a lot of credit for closing down all the spaces, especially in the first half. We managed to get back on level terms quickly and while we weren’t as sharp or incisive as some of our other performances, Empoli gave it their all.
“It is a point, we move up the table and tomorrow we begin again. It was by no means to be taken for granted that we’d come here and dominate, as last season Bologna won here at the last minute.”
He added, “We only played three days ago, it’s not easy to always have the fire burning at full intensity.
“What we must do is to always set the tempo and control the initiative, but when we cannot get the maximum points, the important thing is not to lose.”