Lazio beats Bologna 2-1 despite goalkeeper’s early red card

Lazio goalkeeper Luís Maximiano was sent off less than six minutes into his Serie A debut on Sunday but the capital club managed to win 2-1 against Bologna, which was also reduced to 10 men.

Maximiano, who joined from Granada in the offseason, rushed to the edge of the penalty area to grab the ball and, after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, the referee adjudged that Maximiano had handled the ball outside the area and the Portuguese goalkeeper was shown a straight red card.

Lazio nevertheless almost took the lead shortly after when Ciro Immobile burst forward but his angled effort was deflected just past the far post.

Bologna broke the deadlock in the 38th minute. Alessio Romagnoli put his team in trouble with a terrible headed clearance and teammate Mattia Zaccagni tried to hoof it clear but instead kicked opposing forward Nicola Sansone.

Marko Arnautović struck the resulting penalty into the top right corner.

However, the first half ended with the teams in numerical parity after Bologna defender Adama Soumaoro was sent off in stoppage time following a second yellow card, just minutes after his first.

Lazio eventually equalized in the 68th. Bologna goalkeeper Łukasz Skorupski managed to parry Manuel Lazzari's effort but the ball ricocheted in off defender Lorenzo De Silvestri for an own goal.

The turnaround was complete 11 minutes later as Sergej Milinković-Savić threaded a ball through for Immobile to fire between Skorupski's legs.

Lazio's city rival, Roma, was playing later and José Mourinho's team will be looking to make a show of intent against Salernitana in its opening match of the season.

Another horrendous error from goalkeeper Ionu Radu saw Cremonese lose 3-2 at Fiorentina in a disappointing return to Serie A.

Cremonese had played the entire second half with 10 men after midfielder Gonzalo Escalante was sent off for a twofooted tackle on Christian Kouamé.

But it managed to fight back to 2-2 when substitute Cristian Buonaiuto leveled direct from a corner kick in the second half, just three minutes after coming off the bench.

Radu had pulled off a number of magnificent saves but was at fault for the stoppage-time winner as he managed to catch Rolando Mandragora's cross but carried it back into his own net.

Radu is on loan from Inter Milan and it was his error in a match against Bologna that is widely perceived to have cost the Nerazzurri the title.

It was Cremonese's first match back in the top flight since 1996.

Mbappe or Neymar? PSG coach won't name primary penalty taker

Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier played down questions of who is the club's main penalty taker this season after Kylian Mbappe missed from the spot and Neymar scored with the next spot kick in a league game on Saturday night.

Mbappe saw his effort saved and Neymar coolly converted his in the league leader's 5-2 win against Montpellier. It led to questions whether there is a No. 1 penalty taker at the club.

"For this match, the order was chosen thus," Galtier said after the game. "Kylian shot first, so it was logical that Neymar went next. We'll see in the future."

While there was no animosity between the two players on the field, after the game Neymar liked a Tweet that said he should not be a No. 2 penalty taker at any club.

Mbappe was named the French league's player of the year last season for the third time. The France star netted 39 goals overall and led the league scoring charts with 28, including four penalties from four attempts. Neymar scored three penalties out of four in his total of 13 goals during another injury-hit campaign.

The penalty talk after Saturday's game evoked memories of a spat between Neymar and former striker Edinson Cavani during the 2017-18 season.

The two argued over who should take a penalty during a league game — an incident that came to be known in French media as "Penalty-gate."

Later that same season, Neymar refused to let Cavani take a late penalty, even though PSG was already 7-0 up in the game and Cavani needed one goal to become PSG's outright all-time leading scorer.

Cavani went on to become PSG's best scorer with 200 goals before leaving the club.

Mbappe has 172 career goals for PSG and could catch Cavani this season, especially if he takes penalties.

Monaco signed midfielder Mohamed Camara from Austrian club Salzburg on a five-year deal on Sunday.

Monaco said the 22-year-old Mali midfielder has a contract until 2027. No financial details were given but French reports estimated Monaco paid 15 million euros ($15.4 million) for Camara, who has scored three goals in 15 appearances for Mali.

Camara won two Austrian league and cup doubles with Salzburg.

He is Monaco's fifth signing of the season and arguably the most important one. He is seen as a replacement for France international Aurelien Tchouameni, who joined Champions League winner Real Madrid in a high-profile move worth 100 million euros ($103 million).