Football: Italy's Serie A kicks off with Roma, Juve, Napoli wins

Roma's forward Edin Dzeko celebrating after scoring the winning goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Torino FC and AS Roma at Olimpico stadium in Turin, Italy.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE

ROME (Xinhua) - Italy's Serie A championship officially kicked off at the weekend, with AS Roma beating Torino 1-0 in a hotly contested match that saw Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko score the winning goal in the 89th minute.

A goal by Torino forward Iago Falque was annulled on a technicality, while defenders Lorenzo de Silvestri and Armando Izzo both sustained injuries and had to be substituted.

The match marked the debut of Nigerian right back Ola Aina, whose transfer to Torino on loan from Chelsea FC was made official on Aug 17.

The matches between AC Milan and Genoa, and Sampdoria-Fiorentina, were set to be played Sunday, but had been postponed at the request of the two Genoa-based teams in the wake of Tuesday's deadly bridge collapse in their home town.

The weekend's seven matches were preceded by a minute of silence in memory of the 43 victims.

On Saturday, reigning champions Juventus beat Chievo 3-2 and Napoli beat Lazio 2-1. Saturday also marked the much-anticipated debut in Italian football of star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who failed to score.

Ronaldo joined Juve in July after nine years at reigning Uefa Champions League winners Real Madrid, during which he became their leading scorer of all time.

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