VERONA 1-1 ROMA, FULLTIME n.51
Florenzi first on the score sheet – For the first time in eight years – not since Philippe Mexes opened the scoring in Palermo 0-2 Roma on August 26, 2007 – the inaugural Giallorossi goalscorer of a new season is a defender. Alessandro Florenzi chose his 15th (league and cup) game at right-back to score his 15th Serie A goal for the club (he also has one in the Coppa Italia), earning Rudi Garcia’s side a point at Hellas Verona. In the last two seasons midfielders were the first to get their names on the Roma score sheet, Radja Nainggolan and Daniele De Rossi in 2014 and 2013 against Fiorentina and Livorno respectively.
Garcia level with Ara on games but can’t match his record – After two wins Rudi Garcia began his third season in the Giallorossi dugout with a draw, repeating the exact same results as Luciano Spalletti in his three Serie A openers with Roma. Spalletti beat Livorno in 2006 and Palermo in 2007 (both 2-0), before sharing the spoils with Napoli in 2008. Garcia obtained the same scorelines against Livorno, Fiorentina and Hellas Verona. Only two Roma coaches in history have managed three opening-day wins in their first three years in charge. The first was Guido Ara (Roma 4-0 Fiorentina in 1937, Roma 1-0 AC Milan in 1938 and Roma 2-0 Bologna in 1939) and the second Alfredo Foni (Roma 1-0 Genoa in 1959, Bari 0-3 Roma in 1960 and, after Luis Carniglia’s two-year tenure, Bari 1-3 Roma in 1963). Verona v Roma was Rudi Garcia’s 93rd game in all competitions as Giallorossi boss, putting him on the same number as Guido Ara. The next coaches he will be looking to overtake are Ottavio Bianchi (103) and Oronzo Pugliese (105).
Welcome back Leo – Leandro Castan made his first competitive appearance in 343 days at the Stadio Bentegodi. The Brazilian center-back last played in Empoli 0-1 Roma on September 13, 2014, when he was replaced by Davide Astori.
Eight 1-1s at Hellas – One-all continues to be the most common scoreline when Roma travel to Hellas. Eight of the 33 previous meetings in all competitions between these sides in Verona have finished a goal apiece. Last year 11 of Roma’s 50 league and cup matches ended 1-1. Both goals at the Bentegodi came in the 15-minute spell which yielded the fewest goals in Giallorossi matches last term. Over 38 Serie A encounters, there were just nine goals in Roma games between the 61st and 75th minutes (seven for and two against); the highest-scoring quarter of an hour was at the end of the 90, with 12 goals scored and seven conceded in the final 15 minutes. The Giallorossi last managed to keep a clean sheet on May 3, 2015. Since then Garcia’s rearguard has been breached by AC Milan, Udinese, Lazio, Palermo and Hellas Verona. In pre-season, Roma’s only shutout came against Real Madrid on July 18 in Melbourne.
654 – Debut games for Edin Džeko, Mohamed Salah, Iago Falque and Wojciech Szczesny takes the number of players with at least one top-flight appearance for Roma since 1927 to 654. Szczesny is the 56th goalkeeper to pull on the gloves for the Giallorossi in all competitions, and the 54th in Serie A (Attilio Gregori and Sebastian Cejas only ever turned out for the first team in cup games).
Szczesny – There are parallels to be drawn between the Polish shotstopper and the only two goalkeepers who have been elected into the AS Roma Hall of Fame. Guido Masetti also found himself picking the ball out of the net once when he made his bow in a 1-1 tie at Modena in the opening match of Serie A 1930-31 (and both Modena and Verona play in yellow and blue), while Franco Tancredi’s first outing as a Roma man also came against Verona. He came on for Paolo Conti in a 2-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico in 1978-79, with Guido Ugolotti bagging a brace.
50 for Torosidis – Vasileios Torosidis has now reached a half century of Serie A appearances in the yellow and red of Roma The Greek full-back, fielded on the left at the Stadio Bentegodi, has made 63 appearances for the club in all competitions.