Neres assists on debut as Napoli earn first Serie A win

The Azzurri beat Bologna 3-0 in a match in which the former Benfica player came on near the end. Roma lost at home to Empoli.

After a false start to the Serie A campaign, Napoli picked up their first three points in the competition on Sunday. The Azzurri beat Bologna 3-0 at home, in a match that saw David Neres make his debut.

In a first half dominated by the home side, Napoli did not start the hostilities until after the break. Kvaratskhelia made a great pass inside the area where Di Lorenzo (45+2) appeared to receive the ball and fired a precise left-footed shot into the back of the Bologna net.

Kvaratskhelia doesn’t live on assists alone, so he also wrote his name on the scorers’ list. After the 75th minute, the Georgian took the ball from the middle of the field to the edge of the opponent’s penalty area, and from there he fired a powerful left-footed shot past Skorupski.

Towards the end of the match, Antonio Conte introduced David Neres to replace Matteo Politano, thus giving the former Benfica player some first minutes. The Brazilian thanked him and responded in the best possible way. Despite his short time on the pitch, Neres arrived perfectly to help Giovanni Simeone to a 3-0 lead in the 90+4th minute.

Those who were unlucky were Roma. De Rossi’s men have yet to win in Serie A and this time, they ended up losing at home to Empoli. Paulo Dybala was in the starting line-up and even before the opening whistle, the Roman fans were keen to show their support for the Argentine who recently rejected a “river of money” from the Saudi league and chose to stay at Roma.

The Argentine international rejected a salary of 75 million euros over three years offered by the Saudis of Al-Qadisiyah

As for the match itself, Empoli started better and opened the scoring before the end of the first half through Emmanuel Gyasi (45). Despite Roma’s control of the second half, Empoli showed more efficiency and Lorenzo Colombo (61) increased the visitors’ lead from a penalty kick.

In the 80th minute, Shomurodov reduced the deficit for Roma with a header, but the Uzbek’s goal was not enough to avoid defeat for the Giallorossi at home, who have only one point in the tournament so far.

Other Serie A matches played this Sunday:

Torino hosted Atalanta and won 2-1. Bergamo started the game with a goal from Matteo Retegi (26), but goals from Ivan Ilic (31) and Che Adams (49) ensured the home side’s comeback. Meanwhile, Fiorentina and Venice did not break the deadlock.