It was another enthralling day in the new Serie A season as both Rome clubs painted the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign with flying colors. It’s time to take a look at everything that happened in Italy’s elite competition on Sunday.
Fiorentina Beat Newcomers Cremonese in Five-Goal Thriller
Fiorentina got the new Serie A season off to a promising start, overcoming newly-promoted Cremonese 3-2 at the Artemio Franchi with the last kick of the match.
Vincenzo Italiano’s men got off to a flyer as Giacomo Bonaventura finished off a delightful build-up play to put the hosts in front 16 minutes into the game.
La Viola‘s celebrations were short-lived as former Venezia forward David Okereke drew Cremonese level only three minutes later with a stunning header.
Fiorentina restored the lead through marquee summer arrival Luka Jovic in the 34th minute to take the break 2-1 up.
Gonzalo Escalante’s straight red card on the stroke of halftime made the home team believe the remainder of the encounter should be a walk in the park.
It wasn’t the case as Cremonese hit back midway through the second half, with Cristian Buonaiuto levelling the score to silence the Artemio Franchi.
Andrei Radu, who cost Inter the Scudetto last season, made another blunder to hand Fiorentina a 3-2 victory in the dying moments.
Lazio Turn Things Around to Beat Ten-Man Bologna
Lazio pulled off a sensational second-half comeback to sink Bologna 2-1 in a rollercoaster showdown at the Stadio Olimpico.
Three minutes into his Serie A debut, new Biancocelesti goalkeeper Luis Maximiano picked up a red card, hanging Maurizio Sarri up to dry, or so he thought.
Bologna took advantage of having a man up in the 35th minute as Marko Arnautovic converted a spot-kick to fire the visitors to a 1-0 halftime lead.
However, Adama Soumaoro shot his side in the foot, earning two yellow cards in four minutes down the final stretch of the first half.
Lorenzo De Silvestri’s unfortunate own goal pulled Lazio back after the hour mark, with Ciro Immobile’s 83rd-minute strike completing the turnaround.
Roma Squeeze Past Spirited Salernitana
Fresh from winning the Europa Conference League, Roma defeated last season’s survival fighters Salernitana 1-0 in their opening 2022/23 Serie A outing.
Bryan Cristante’s effort from the edge of the box in the 33rd minute decided the game, but it wasn’t a pleasant evening for Jose Mourinho’s team by any stretch of the imagination.
Roma had a couple of golden opportunities to break the deadlock in the opening 20 minutes, yet Nicoló Zaniolo failed to slot home in two one-on-one situations.
Ex-Juventus ace Paulo Dybala struck the post late in the first half to throw Salernitana a lifeline heading into the second half.
Davide Nicola’s lads showed glimpses of their ability to upset big guns after the restart but failed to create enough scoring chances as Roma got their domestic campaign up and running.
Spezia Make History Against Empoli
Spezia registered their first win on the opening day of a Serie A season at the third attempt of asking, courtesy of a 1-0 triumph over Empoli at the Stadio Alberto Picco.
Long-serving attacker M’Bala Nzola smashed the ball between the legs of Guglielmo Vicario to put the hosts in front after receiving an exquisite defense-splitting pass from Simone Bastoni.
Spezia picked up where they left off before the break, peppering Empoli’s goal with an array of goal-scoring opportunities as the visitors’ head coach Paolo Zanetti continued to look worried in the dugout.
Zanetti’s side made the utmost effort to avoid defeat but came up short as they look to be bracing themselves for another troublesome top-flight campaign.