Juventus open new season of Italian Serie A with a victory

ROME: Italian Serie A welcomed it’s new season on Saturday with Juventus kicking off title defense with a 1-0 win in Parma, while Napoli won through an exhilarating 4-3 thriller against Fiorentina at Stadio Franchi.

At Satio Tardini, Parma hosted scudetto holders Juventus. Juve’s coach Maurizio Sarri wasn’t at the stadium because he was undergoing treatment for pneumonia, and since all the summer signings were benched, there were no new faces for Juventus in the starting lineup.

Minutes after the match started, Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny denied twice counterattacks from Parma.

In the 21st minute, Juve opened the scoring from their fifth corner of the match. Luigi Sepe punched the ball not so far away and Alex Sandro’s volley took a deflection before Giorgio Chiellini made a final touch and scored the first goal of the new season.

In the 34th minute, Douglas Costa passed the ball to Ronaldo for him to fire it into the far bottom corner, but it was disallowed using VAR, because his shoulder was offside. Eventually, the reigning champions opened the Serie A season with a 1-0 victory.

At the Stadio Artemis Franchi, Napoli begin their title challenge with a match against Fiorentina.

In the 7th minute, because of Zielinski’s handball, Erick Pulgar scored a penalty for Fiorentina. In the 38th minute, Lorenzo Insigne crossed the ball for Mertens to score an equalizer into the far top corner.

In the 42nd minute, Dries Mertens fell inside the box and referee ordered a controversial penalty kick. Insigne scored the penalty for Napoli. In the 52nd minute, on the resulting corner, Nikola Milenkovic soared above the crowd to nod the ball in with a powerful downward header.

In the 56th minute, Insigne rolled the ball across from the left for Jose Callejon to hit it into the far bottom corner. In the 65th minute, Jerome Boateng drew things level with a shot from the edge of the area.

In the 68th minute, Mertens passed a long ball to Callejon at the back post, who knocked it back for Insigne to head home. In the end, Napoli won 4-3.

Minutes after the match began, Juventus goalkeeper Szczesny denied twice counterattacks from Parma.