The Nigeria internationals came off the bench but could not help the Garnets from losing all three points in Bologna
Simy Nwankwo and Joel Obi made their debuts for Salernitana in their 3-2 defeat to Bologna in Sunday’s Serie A opener.
The Nigeria duo joined the newly-promoted club this summer, with Obi moving first to the Stadio Arechi on a free transfer while Simy joined the Garnets on Thursday on a season-long loan from Crotone.
It was a heated encounter at the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium that resulted in three red cards and ended in a five-goal thriller.
Simy and Obi started on the bench for Fabrizio Castori’s side, but the former was introduced in the 64th minute for Milan Duric while Obi was thrown into the fray with eight minutes left on the clock.
Salernitana opened the scoring through Federico Bonazzoli’s opener in the 52nd minute but they could hold on to the lead as Lorenzo De Silvestri drew the two teams levelled, seven minutes later.
A few minutes later, Senegal’s Mamadou Coulibaly grabbed his first Serie A goal to restore the visitors’ lead in the 70th minute but it was cancelled again by Marko Arnautovic in the 74th minute.
It did not take long for De Silvestri to grab his second goal in the 77th minute which sealed maximum points for Bologna.
Bologna had Gambia striker Musa Barrow as the only African player in action while Senegal’s Ibrahima Mbaye and Nigeria’s Kingsley Michael were unused substitutes.
Following Sunday’s loss, Simy and Obi will turn their attention to next Sunday’s fixture at the Stadio Arechi when Salernitana host Jose Mourinho’s Roma for their second Serie A game of the season.
Simy dazzled in front of goal last season with 20 goals in 38 Serie A matches but it could not save Crotone from relegating to the Serie B while Obi was in the Serie B with Chievo and he returned four goals in 31 games, in addition to his midfield duties.
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