Roma defeated Salernitana 1-0 to claim all three points available, and for José Mourinho, that is all that matters. The Giallorossi are among the teams in this early Serie A season that are most exciting to watch, but their opening performance was not particularly spectacular.
Roma scored in the first half against a Salernitana team that coach Davide Nicola had effectively dismantled, and in a second half that didn’t add much to the spectacle, they held onto their slim lead. Paulo Dybala was used from the beginning of the game, and Nemanja Matic and Georginio Wijnaldum were added later. Mourinho gave all of his new gems some playing time. Nevertheless, it was experienced Bryan Cristante who saved the Special One’s chestnuts from the flames by scoring the game’s lone goal with a precise left-foot shot.
The Giallorossi were under Salernitana’s control for the first 30 minutes as Roma continued to struggle to energize the three men on front line. In comparison to Tammy Abraham and Dybala, Nicoló Zaniolo was somewhat more active, forcing Luigi Sepe to make the game’s opening save. On minute 33, Cristante ended a 128-day scoring drought for himself to give Mourinho’s team the lead. The Milan academy product scored with ease after receiving the ball just outside the box and using a tricky diagonal shot to beat Sepe.
Zaniolo and Dybala showed a glimpse of what they might be capable of doing together as Roma gained confidence and came dangerously close to doubling their scoring before the half. The brilliant counterattack by the young Azzurri player on minute 44 resulted in a fine service for La Joya, whose shot struck Sepe’s left post.
Nicola added some experience to the group eight minutes into the second half when he substituted Frank Ribery for Grigoris Kastanos among the Granata lines. As the game wore on, the Salernitana coach tried more offensive tactics, first bringing on Julian Kristoffersen and then Chilean forward Diego Valencia. Rui Patricio, the shot-stopper for Roma, had a fairly undemanding night because he didn’t have to play in the second half. Federico Bonazzoli, the primary striker for Salernitana, tried hard to cause some trouble in the penalty area but ultimately failed.
The only opportunities after the restart belonged to Roma because Zaniolo appeared unstoppable and the home team found it difficult to contain him. On the 66th minute, his curl struck the side netting but not before sending shivers down the backs of every Salernitana fan. Another attempt by Dybala to miss the mark was assisted this time by Leonardo Spinazzola, who was back in action.
After realizing that one goal might be sufficient, Mourinho made a cautious substitution, replacing Abraham with Matic. The Special One pulled off an exhausted Zaniolo, giving Wijnaldum some playing time. Before the end of the game, the Dutchman scored, but his winning goal was overturned for offside. That was reasonable because a two-goal gap would’ve been too harsh on a Salernitana team that looked strong but had inconsistent offensive play.
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