Soccer-Crafty Kolarov free kick gives Roma winning start

Aleksandar Kolarov, making his debut after his move from Manchester City, scored with a crafty free kick under the wall to give AS Roma a 1-0 win at Atalanta in their opening Serie A game of the season on Sunday.

Kolarov is known for blasting free kicks but this time he rolled it along the ground and fooled the players in the Atalanta wall who instinctively jumped and let it go underneath them.

The Serbian's 31st-minute goal also ensured a winning start for Roma's new coach Eusebio Di Francisco who replaced Luciano Spalletti during the close season.

Roma, runners-up last season, had to survive a late siege to their penalty area and Atalanta should have equalised when Alejandro Gomez's cross found Josip Ilicic unmarked but he contrived to hit the post from point-blank range.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)