MILAN: The great-grandson of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini hailed as unforgettable his Serie A debut on Friday after he came off the bench to help Cremonese beat Sassuolo 3-2.

Cremonese will be top of Serie A overnight after Romano Floriani Mussolini won the penalty which Manuel De Luca converted for his side’s third goal, giving Davide Nicola’s team a perfect six points from their opening two league fixtures of the season.

Floriani Mussolini replaced Alessio Zerbin on the right wing in the 82nd minute at the Stadio Giovanni Zini and made an impact with a bright display before being brought down by Alieu Fadera in stoppage time.

De Luca’s penalty saved Cremonese’s blushes as Sassuolo had come back from two goals down at half time thanks to an Andrea Pinamonte strike and Domenico Berardi’s spot-kick which was won by Fadera.

“Too many things happened in too little time, I don’t think I’ll ever forget tonight because I’ve always dreamed of making my debut in Serie A,” said Floriani Mussolini, who has the name “Romano” on his shirt. “My goal was to make a difference and I’m happy that I managed to do that.”

Floriani Mussolini is the son of Alessandra Mussolini, a former Italian and European MP and the granddaughter of the fascist dictator who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943.

The 22-year-old, who has said in the past that he has no interest in politics, is on loan at Cremonese from Lazio, where he came through the youth ranks after previously playing for local rivals AS Roma.

Last season he played in Serie B for Juve Stabia, where some fans celebrated his first and only goal for the club by doing fascist salutes and shouting his surname.

MILAN OFF THE MARK

Cremonese lead AC Milan and five other teams by three points after the seven-time European champions won a tough match at Lecce 2-0 to get their season up and running.

Milan fell to their first ever defeat to Cremonese at the San Siro last weekend but bounced back at the Stadio Via del Mare thanks to goals in the second half from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic.

Despite the win, an animated Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri looked far from happy on the sidelines, and stormed down the tunnel at the final whistle.

Loftus-Cheek opened the scoring in the 66th minute when the England international got a glancing header to Luka Modric’s floated free-kick.

His first goal of the season finally broke the deadlock for Milan who had a goal chalked off in each half following VAR checks and the game looked set to peter out without any further goals, before a Lecce defensive mix-up.

The home defenders failed to deal with Milan keeper Mike Maignan’s long punt forward, allowing substitute Pulisic to coolly slot the ball into the bottom corner with four minutes remaining.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2025