The 2017/18 Serie A season commenced on Saturday with Juventus getting off to a flying start as they look to retain the Scudetto for another consecutive season.
Juventus welcomed Cagliari to the Allianz Stadium expecting to seal a comfortable win over the visitors, and they duly did as they cruised to a 3-0 victory in typical Bianconeri fashion.
Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring for Juventus in the 12th-minute thanks to an assist from Swiss defender, Stephan Lichtsteiner. Cagliari have gifted an opportunity to draw level from the penalty spot, but Diego Farias lost his composure and missed the spot-kick thus preserving Juventus’ lead.
Paulo Dybala benefitted from an assist from Juventus’ creator-in-chief, Miralem Pjanic as he increased his side’s lead to 2-0 right on the stroke of half time.
Gonzalo Higuain closed the scoring in the 66th-minute with the Bianconeri going top of the league.
Napoli also began their title charge on Saturday against newly-promoted side, Hellas Verona. A win was pretty much a foregone conclusion for the Partenopei before the start of the game, hence; Maurizio Sarri will be pleased that his side were able to live up to expectations as they grabbed a 3-1 victory at Stadio M.A. Bentegodi.
Verona man Samuel Soprayen opened the scoring with an own goal in the 32ndminute before Arkadiusz Milik doubled Napoli’s lead seven minutes later.
Defender Faouzi Ghoulam rounded off Napoli’s three-goal rout before Elseid Hysaj gave away a penalty and was subsequently sent off.
Giampaolo Pazzini converted the penalty for Verona thus gifting them a consolation goal, something Fabio Pecchia will be looking to build on in subsequent fixtures.
As usual, most of the Serie A’s action took place on Sunday as last season’s surprise package Atalanta welcomed Roma to the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia.
It was expected to be a tight game with Roma eventually edging it at the end, but quite the contrary happened as Atalanta dominated the tie for large spells but were beaten 1-0 courtesy of a superb free-kick from Aleksandar Kolarov.
Elsewhere, Bologna held Torino to a draw with goals from Federico Di Francesco and Adem Ljajic cancelling each other out.
A draw is a fine start to the new season for Torino given they need a strong foundation from which to build upon for their European ambitions.
AC Milan were too much for Crotone to handle as the Rossoneri claimed a 3-0 victory over Crotone courtesy of goals from Franck Kessie, Patrick Cutrone and Suso.
Gil Squali went into the game hoping for a strong start to the season, but instead, the relegation candidates have already racked up a loss whilst conceding three goals.
AC Milan’s fiercest rivals, Inter Milan also won 3-0 on Sunday against Fiorentina.
La Viola more or less capitulated after conceding the first goal through Mauro Icardi’s 6th-minute penalty.
Icardi doubled his side’s lead 11 minutes after his opener before Manchester United transfer target Ivan Perisic scored Inter’s third and final goal on the day.
Lazio and SPAL 2013 held Lazio to a goalless draw with Sassuolo and Genoa also playing out a scoreless stalemate.
Sampdoria got the job done against newly-promoted side Benevento as a brace from Fabio Quagliarella helped them to a 2-1 win.
Benevento got the game’s first goal, though, courtesy of Amato Ciciretti in the 15th-minute.
Udinese succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at home to Chievo Verona with Roberto Inglese and Valter Birsa scoring both goals for the visitors.
Cyril Thereau netted Udinese’s solitary goal in the 37th-minute. Despite losing on the opening day of the season, Udinese looked positive going forward – something which will prove to be a big boost as they fight for a mid-table spot.
