Despite creating loads of chances in front of the goal, Roma could not make a better start to their 2022/23 Serie A campaign, with Salernitana beaten to a 1-0 scoreline.
Ahead of the match, the Giallorossi manager Jose Mourinho had already chalked off their chances for this season’s Scudetto. Nevertheless, lining up with a vibrant side, Mourinho’s men did not have to struggle for creating chances. While the away side looked robust in attack, the hosts embraced the daunting challenges with utter ease.
On an evening where Roma’s frontmen witnessed little success, Bryan Cristante emerged as a panacea with his all-around ability. A long-range attempt from Bryan Cristante beat Luigi Sepe to draw the first blood in favour of the visitors. Debutant Paulo Dybala had a couple of golden chances to extend the lead, but he did not have his shooting boots on either.
Nicolo Zaniolo worked hard to open the Salernitana defence, but all his efforts went in vain as Roma failed to see the face of the goal for the second time on the night. Thanks to the Giallorossi rearguard, Salternitana could not open their tally. As a result, the match ended in a 1-0 scoreline, with Mourinho’s side racking up all three points from their season opener. Here are the player ratings from Roma’s first win of the league campaign.Â
Salernitana (3-5-2): Sepe (6.5); Bronn (6.5), Fazio (5.5), Gyomber (6); Mazzocchi (6.5), Coulibaly (5), Vilhena (6), Kastanos (6.5), Candreva (6.5); Botheim (6), Bonazzoli (6.5)
Substitutes: Ribery (5), Valencia (6), Sambia (6), Kristoffersen (5.5)
Roma (3-4-2-1): Rui PatrĂcio (6); Mancini (7), Smalling (6.5), Ibáñez (7); Karsdorp (6.5), Cristante (8.5), Pellegrini (6.5), Spinazzola (6.5); Dybala (7), Zaniolo (6); Abraham (6)
Substitutes: Matic (6), Wijnaldum (N/A), El Shaarawy (N/A)
While Roma next host Cremonese on Monday, Salernitana will take the field against Udinese on Saturday with an aspiration to register their first win of a new campaign.
GIFN | Jyotirmoy Halder
