Ageless Candreva stuns Roma with double in Salernitana draw

Salernitana and AS Roma played out a 2-2 draw in their Serie A opener in front of a sellout crowd at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday (Aug 20) after a glorious double from 36-year-old Antonio Candreva was cancelled out by an Andrea Belotti brace.

Belotti did not score a single league goal last season but the forward, who had an earlier effort ruled out for offside, made no mistake when he outmuscled the defence to control a lob from Diego Llorente before firing home in the 17th minute.

But Candreva levelled when he wrong-footed English centre back Chris Smalling to score in the 36th minute. He then gave Salernitana the lead in the second half with a sensational curling effort with his weaker left foot.

However, Belotti made it 2-2 in the 82nd minute when the 29-year-old found the back of the net with a towering header from a corner, rescuing a point while denying Salernitana a first win over Roma.