Serie A: Okereke starts new season on brilliant note, Dessers stars in Cremonese’s loss to Fiorentina

It was an evening of mixed feelings for the Nigerian duo, but they would look to take the positives

Nigerian striker David Okereke scored, while compatriot Cyriel Dessers played all 90 minutes, but their efforts were not enough, as Cremonese fell to a painful 3-2 loss to Fiorentina in their opening game of the season.

The Grigiorossi traveled to the Stadio Artemio Franchi in their opening game of the season. And coach Massimiliano Alvini opted to start his newest Nigerian recruitments Dessers and Okereke. The Nigerian duo spearheaded the attack for Cremonese.

Giacomo Bonaventura opened the scoring in the 16th minute, but Okereke scored his first goal of the season to draw level for Cremonese three minutes later.

However, Fiorentina new signing Luka Jovic scored in the 34th minute to make it 2-1 for Fiorentina. Cremonese’s woes were further compounded in the 44th minute when Gonzalo Escalante got red-carded for a nasty tackle.

Nonetheless, the Grigiorossi stayed strong, and they were rewarded in the 68th minute, as Cristian Buonaiuto scored three minutes after his introduction into the game.

Dessers had a decent performance registering 32 touches. He also tested the Fiorentina defense three times but two of his shots were blocked, while one was wayward.

Cremonese thought they had picked a draw in their first game in the Serie A. But unfortunately, Rolando Mandragora scored in the fifth minute of added time to ensure that Fiorentina ran out with a 3-2 win.