Serie A champion Napoli produces more drama vs. Cagliari; Gasperini picks up perfectly from Ranieri

ROME (AP) — Antonio Conte jumped up and down and whirled his arms like a child as he ran around in delirium.

The fans inside the Stadio Armando Diego Maradona also erupted in joy.

Three months after beating Cagliari to secure its fourth Serie A title, Napoli was again celebrating a victory over the Sardinian club.

What made it so dramatic this time was that Frank Anguissa scored five minutes into stoppage time for a 1-0 win after Napoli had wasted chance after chance in its home opener.

Moments before the goal there had been gasps of despair as Scott McTominay attempted an unsuccessful bicycle kick near the goal.

Turned out, nothing so complicated was necessary as Anguissa was left unmarked in the center of the area to calmly redirect in a cross from Alessandro Buongiorno.

“I would have been happy with a 0-0. There are matches where you get the ball and score easily. Today it seemed like there was a curse on the goal,” said Conte, who is in his second season coaching Napoli. “But the team believed until the end and the final result was deserved.”

Injured striker Romelu Lukaku was also overcome with emotion, posting a photo on Instagram of himself holding his head in apparent disbelief with a caption that read, “Pfffff wow wow wow. These wins are the best.”

Napoli joined Roma — which won 1-0 at promoted Pisa — and Cremonese with a full six points through two rounds. Inter Milan and Juventus can extend their winning starts on Sunday.

Inter hosts Udinese and Juventus visits Genoa.

While Napoli midfielders McTominay and Kevin De Bruyne have been its most dangerous players in the opening two rounds, help in attack is on the way after the international break with the southern club close to signing Rasmus Hojlund from Manchester United to fill in for Lukaku.

Gasperini picks up from Ranieri

Gian Piero Gasperini is picking up right where Claudio Ranieri left off at Roma.

Roma went unbeaten last season from mid-December to mid-May under Ranieri, who then retired from coaching and selected Gasperini to succeed him as part of his new advisory role.

The Giallorossi also won their opener against Bologna 1-0.

At Pisa, Matías Soulé scored in the 55th minute with a textbook goal that involved all three of Roma’s forwards.

Substitute Paulo Dybala crossed to newly signed Ireland forward Evan Ferguson, who laid the ball off for Soulé to shoot into the far corner.

Pisa, which hosted a Serie A match for the first time in 34 years, had a couple of chances in quick succession early on. The Arena Garibaldi sits practically in the shadow of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Bologna stops big-spending Como

Italian Cup winner Bologna bounced back from an opening defeat by beating big-spending Como 1-0.

Riccardo Orsolini scored near the hour mark with a deflected shot after also threatening early on.

Bologna, which lost its opener at Roma, earned its first points of the season. For Como, it was a setback after impressing in a 2-0 win over Lazio.

Owned by Indonesian tobacco billionaire brothers Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono, Como has spent 104 million euros ($121 million) in the current transfer market — the fifth most in the league.

Bologna was without Ciro Immobile, the four-time Serie A scoring leader it recently signed, who is out for an estimated two months after injuring his right leg last weekend.

Atalanta struggles without Gasperini

With Gasperini gone after a nine-year tenure, Atalanta again struggled in a 1-1 draw at Parma.

Mario Pasalic put Atalanta ahead with a long shot in the 79th but newly signed Patrick Cutrone came off the bench to equalize on debut for Parma six minutes later by tapping in a rebound.

Atalanta, which also drew its opener against Pisa, has two points under new coach Ivan Juric. Parma, which lost its opener at Juventus, has one point.

Atalanta striker Gianluca Scamacca lobbed a shot off the post in the first half.

On Sunday, it’s: Inter vs. Udinese; Genoa vs. Juventus; Torino vs. Fiorentina; and Lazio vs. Hellas Verona.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer