Serie A kicked off this weekend, with 32 goals and plenty of excitement. At the top, Juventus and Napoli both managed wins, while Lazio and Inter both dominated.

Parma 0-1 Juventus

Juventus started their season with an underwhelming win over Parma. The goal came in the 21st minute after the ball was whipped in by Alex Sandro, then Leonardo Bonucci nudged it with a backheel, and his centre back partner Giorgio Chiellini just flicked it in with a little backheel of his own.

Cristiano Ronaldo had multiple attempts that went just wide, and also had a goal called back in the 34th minute after VAR determined he was just barely offside.

Parma put up a good fight, with Roberto Inglese and Hernani both with decent attempts at the other end, but Juve took home all three points with a scrappy win.

Fiorentina 3-4 Napoli

In a sensational game filled with goals and a huge amount of controversy, SSC Napoli pulled off a dramatic 4-3 win against ACF Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Fiorentina started off the game with a bang, winning what can only be described as a soft penalty after seven minutes when the ball struck Piotr Zieliński's hand in the box. Debutant Erick Pulgar then tucked the spot-kick away.

Napoli then equalized through a marvellous shot from outside the box by Dries Mertens. Mertens then won a shocking penalty just before the half, which Lorenzo Insigne scored. Fiorentina equalized in the 52nd minute when Nikola Milenkovic headed home from a corner.

Minutes later Napoli retook the lead from a José Callejon first time strike just inside the box. In a nearly identical goal, Kevin Prince Boateng equalized yet again when his strike across the goal hit the post and went in.

The scoring was not finished when a sweeping team move was finished off by Insigne to win the game for Napoli in the 67th minute. Franck Ribery made a late substitute appearance and looked to be pulled down on the edge of the box, but VAR did not intervene. 

Udinese 1-0 Milan

AC Milan fell to an opening weekend defeat to Udinese, losing 0-1 in Marco Giampolo’s first competitive game as the Rossoneri’s boss.

The first-half turned out to be a cagey affair, with neither team being able to force a shot on target. However, the hosts rose up in the second half and started pushing the issue with their attacking force.

Milan’s resolve was broken in the 72nd minute when Rodrigo Becao rose over Franck Kessie to score from Rodrigo De Paul’s corner to score in his debut for Udinese. Milan had a penalty shout overturned despite VAR interference in the 83rd minute, starting their Serie A campaign in the worst possible manner. 

Cagliari 0-1 Brescia

Cagliari Calcio were defeated by newly promoted side Brescia Calcio in an entertaining match that saw VAR feature twice.

The first incident was in the 12th minute after Alfredo Donnarumma headed it home, the VAR review adjudicated that he was offside and the goal was called off.

Next was in the 52nd minute when Alberto Cerri was given a handball in the box after VAR review, resulting in a penalty being awarded to Brescia. Donnarumma slotted the penalty past Rafael to score the winning goal.

Cagliari stars Radja Nainggolan and Joao Pedro both had some decent attempts, but in the end, the penalty gave all three points to the newcomers.

Verona 1-1 Bologna

Hellas Verona held Bologna to a draw at the fiery Stadio Bentegodi despite being down to 10 men for most of the match, but the big story was that Bologna manager Sinisa Mihajlovic left his hospital bed to be on the touchline for this match.

Verona saw defender Pawel Dawidowicz sent off after he attempted to head the ball away from Riccardo Orsolini in the box, leaving the home side on ten men. Nicola Sansone then slotted the resulting penalty past Lukasz Skorupski to take the lead.

In the 35th minute, Andrea Poli fouled Marash Kumbulla, resulting in a free-kick for Verona. Miguel Veloso took it brilliantly, curving it over the wall and past the keeper for the equalizer.

Roma 3-3 Genoa

A.S Roma were held by C.F.C Genoa in a 3-3 draw in what was an exciting back and forth match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Roma came out of the gate flying and went ahead early from Cengiz Ünder’s outstanding solo effort. Genoa then replied with a strike by Andrea Pinamonte in the 16th minute. A wonderful dribble inside the box to beat several defenders was then tucked away by Edin Dzeko to restore the lead.

On the stroke of halftime, Juan Jesus gifted Genoa a penalty with a clumsy challenge, which was then tucked away by Dominico Criscito.

When play resumed after the break, Roma then went back ahead with a stunning free-kick by Aleksandar Kolarov. Just when Roma looked to be in control of the match, Genoa struck again with a diving header by Christian Kouame to secure the draw. 

Sampdoria 0-3 Lazio

Lazio kept a clean sheet and took all three points from Sampdoria at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday with a brace by Ciro Immobile and two assists by Luis Alberto.

Immobile’s first goal came in the 37th minute from the assist by Luis Alberto, Emil Audero came off his line and Immobile chipped it over the keeper.

The second half saw a great run by Luis Alberto, who crossed it to Joaquín Correa, who then finished it neatly. That was followed by a long ball forward to Immobile, and again he was able to chip it over Audero.

Last season’s capocannoniere, Fabio Quagliarella, and teammate Manolo Gabbiadini had their chances as well but were unable to convert as Sampdoria dropped points at home.

SPAL 2-3 Atalanta

Atalanta came from two behind to beat SPAL at home in a five-goal thriller. The first goal came from an assist by Andrea Petagna, with Federico Di Francesco sending it past the sprawling Pierluigi Gollini. Petagna got on the board next with a great cross from Igor Julio, who prefaced the cross with a series of stepovers.

Atalanta came back with three goals of their own, however, with the first a Robin Gosens header from a Hans Hateboer cross. The second half saw two Luis Muriel goals from long range. The first was a screamer in the 70th minute, followed by another one from the top of the box just six minutes later for the win.

Torino 2-1 Sassuolo

Torino held on to take all three points from Sassuolo at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino on Sunday. Simone Zaza put i Granata up in the 14th minute with a fantastic header.

Andrea Belotti let a powerful strike go in the 55th that was deflected by Zaza but went into the goal. It was originally credited to Zaza, but the league officially gave it to Belotti.

However, Sassuolo deservedly got on the scoreboard in the 69th minute after a Jeremie Boga strike hit the post, and Francesco Caputo sent in the rebound for the goal. Despite putting up a valiant fight, Sassuolo went home empty-handed.

Inter 4-0 Lecce

Inter dominated minnows Lecce at the San Siro on Monday. Marcelo Brozovic started the scoring with an impressive goal from outside the box in the 21st. Summer signing Stefano Sensi opened up his campaign with a goal three minutes later, assisted by Matias Vecino.

Their record new signing, Romelo Lukaku got on the scoreboard with his debut, finishing a rebounded shot from Lautaro Martinez in the 60th minute.

Disaster struck for Lecce when substitution Diego Farias saw a straight red for a nasty foul on Nicola Barella, leaving Lecce on ten men for the final 15 minutes.  Matteo Politano had a goal called back for offside, then Antonio Candreva completed the scoring in the 84th minute with a screamer from distance.

Contributors

Fiorentina vs Napoli and Roma vs. Genoa – Marco De Marinis

Udinese vs. Milan – Uttiyo Sarkar

Parma vs. Juventus, Cagliari vs. Brescia, Verona vs. Bologna, Sampdoria vs. Lazio, SPAL vs. Atalanta, Torino vs. Sassuolo, and Inter vs. Lecce – Elaine Donati