Rivals jostle for Milan's Serie A crown
FootballGoalfest in Italy As Napoli Send Out Early Statement of Intent in Serie A With Huge Thrashing of Verona
- Napoli and Verona served entertainment in their opening games of Serie A, with seven different goalscorers getting on the scoresheet
- Verona started off proceedings, but Napoli quickly responded before taking full control of the match
- It was a decent debut for new signings Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim-Min Jae
Napoli began their campaign for the Serie A title in an emphatic fashion with a 5-2 drubbing of Hellas Verona.
The Luciano Spalletti side, who are chasing their first title in 32 years, showed no signs of missing top stars Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne and Drie Mertens, who all left this summer.
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New signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia grabbed a goal of the tie and later added an assist to cap off a wonderful competitive debut for his new side.
Verona opened the scoring through Kevin Lasagna before Kvaratskhelia equalised. Napoli then dominated proceedings, with Victor Osimhen putting them ahead just before the halftime break.
Their lead did not last long, with Thomas Henry responding for the hosts immediately after the break. But it was a downward spiral for Verona after Henry's goal as Napoli kept scoring.
Piotr Zieliński, Matteo Politano and Stanislav Lobotka scored a goal apiece to record the biggest win of the opening weekend of Serie A.
Napoli will now host newly-promoted Monza in their next game as Verona travel to face Bologna.
Jose Mourinho's AS Roma start new season with slender win
Sports Brief had earlier reported that Jose Mourinho's AS Roma have kicked off the new Serie A campaign on a positive note after seeing off Salernitana in their season opener staged at Stadio Arechi on Sunday, August 14.
The match saw Mourinho unleash his new-look Roma side, with summer arrival Paulo Dybala making the starting XI.
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FootballThe veteran coach partnered the Argentine ace in attack alongside Tammy Abraham and Nicolò Zaniolo as Tonny Vilhena and Antonio Candreva debuted for Salernitana.
Despite Roma's arguably strong lineup, they struggled to break Salernitana's stubborn defence in the opening exchanges.