Veteran Cesena goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli came back to haunt his former employers as he put in a man-of-the match display to frustrate AS Roma in a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Antonioli was the first-choice goalkeeper in the capital when then-coach Fabio Capello led the Rome-based team to the Italian title in 2001, but the 40-year-old put an early dent in Roma’s current scudetto hopes as he kept last season’s runners-up at bay to give the Serie A new boys a dream start to life back among Italy’s elite.
Having earned successive promotions from the third tier of Italian soccer, Cesena are rank outsiders in the top flight this season, but they produced a spirited display to earn a point.
PHOTO: AFP
Roma coach Claudio Ranieri suggested his team might have paid for being over-eager.
“This wasn’t the start we were dreaming about, we wanted to win and start off on the right footing,” Ranieri said. “Who knows, maybe it was exactly that desire that prevented us from doing things better.”
“We’re satisfied with this draw because Cesena had two or three dangerous chances and we have to know how to accept a draw that gets us moving in the standings,” he said. “We’re working very hard, this was a clear step forward with respect to the Super Cup [a 3-1 defeat by Inter]. We did a lot, but we didn’t manage the next step.”
DOMINATION
While Roma predictably dominated the first period in terms of possession and territory, they were mostly restricted to some pot-shots and crosses from deep and they could have been made to pay on 20 minutes when Cesena broke at pace on the counterattack from a Roma corner.
Emanuele Giaccherini played a pass from right to left for Japan international Yuto Nagatomo, but his pass was slightly over-hit, giving Nagatomo a difficult angle to shoot, although he made the best of it and his effort fizzed just past the far post.
Roma came closest on 35 minutes when Daniele De Rossi’s fierce volley was beaten away by Antonioli, although TV replays showed the midfielder should have been flagged for offside.
Cesena came close again just before the hour mark, but Matias Schelotto blazed high over the bar on the turn.
Antonioli, the oldest goalkeeper in Serie A and just over two weeks away from his 41st birthday, came to Cesena’s rescue 19 minutes from time with a double save.
UNBEATABLE
First, he palmed out a dangerous cross from substitute Rodrigo Taddei and then sprung up to save Mirko Vucinic’s follow-up when a goal looked certain.
From the resulting corner, John-Arne Riise dragged a shot just wide and Vucinic later had another chance, but couldn’t keep his header down.
Antonioli was the hero again 11 minutes from the end when he parried a vicious effort from Francesco Totti and then sprang up to whip the ball off Stefano Okaka’s foot.
The game was opening up and after Erjon Bogdani had clipped an effort just wide at one end, Totti’s header from Taddei’s cross sailed narrowly over the corner of bar and post at the other.
Earlier, substitute Giandomenico Mesto scored the first goal of the new Serie A season as Genoa won 1-0 at Udinese.
Mesto had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes when he snatched an acrobatic winner nine minutes from time.
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