The Japan Times - Mussolini's great grandson hails winning Serie A debut with table-toppers Cremonese

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 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.

Floriani Mussolini could soon have Jamie Vardy as a teammate as the former Leicester City striker and Premier League winner is in talks to join the promoted team as a free agent.

- Milan back on track -

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 at the San Siro to Cremonese 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.

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.

First Matteo Gabbia was denied the opening goal in the sixth minute when he was spotted pushing Lassana Coulibaly in the back before thumping home a header.

And Santiago Gimenez, who has been subject to speculation that he is set to be offloaded, was caught just offside as he collected Alexis Saelemaekers' pass and rolled past Wladimiro Falcone.

But Loftus-Cheek put Milan ahead and Pulisic sealed the points for Milan with four minutes remaining when he pounced on sloppy play at the back by Lecce, burst clean through on goal and stroked home.

M.Matsumoto--JT