Ronaldinho sparkled on his debut, but could not prevent AC Milan slumping to a dismal 2-1 home defeat to Serie A newboys Bologna in their opener at the San Siro on Sunday.
Former Milan forward Alberto Gilardino scored an equalizer a minute from time to earn 10-man Fiorentina a 1-1 home draw against Juventus and it was a poor start all round for the scudetto hopefuls as AS Roma were held 1-1 at home to 10-man Napoli.
But it was in AC Milan’s game with Bologna that the real drama took place, as Carlo Ancelotti handed debuts to Gianluca Zambrotta and Mathieu Flamini, as well as Ronaldinho.
PHOTO: EPA
Marco Di Vaio gave the visitors a shock lead on 18 minutes after the ball fell kindly to him in the box. Ronaldinho was at the center of everything that was good for Milan and it was his cross that Massimo Ambrosini headed home to restore parity on 41 minutes.
The Brazilian magician then created two glorious chances for veteran striker Filippo Inzaghi and another for second-half substitute Andrei Shevchenko, back from a two-year nightmare at Chelsea, but neither could finish.
Then Francesco Valiani won it for Bologna 11 minutes from time with a thunderbolt from 25m out into the top right-hand corner.
Juventus took the lead six minutes before the break against Fiorentina, when Czech veteran Pavel Nedved converted a cross from Zdenek Grygera.
A minute from time Gilardino turned Swedish defender Olof Mellberg and squeezed home a shot in off the far post.
AS Roma were no less disappointing than Milan as they were held by a Napoli team that played more than half-an-hour with 10 men. The hosts went in front when Alberto Aquilani ran onto a delicate chip over the defense from Daniele De Rossi and took the ball down on his chest before firing home. Despite having Fabian Santacroce sent off on 54 minutes, Napoli were level soon after through Slovakia midfielder Marek Hamsik.
Lazio are the early pacesetters as they came from behind to win 4-1 at 10-man Cagliari.
Torino are also off to a fine start with a 3-0 home victory against newly-promoted Lecce, while Chievo marked their return to the top flight with a 2-1 success over Reggina.
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB