Cremonese produced one of the biggest surprises of the Coppa Italia Round of 32 by beating Parma 2-0 away from home, hours before the club announced the dismissal of coach Marco Giampaolo.
The Serie B side scored twice in the first half at Stadio Tardini to eliminate Parma and earn a place in the last 16, where they will face Como.
Parma, who have already lost both of their Serie A matches this season, struggled to contain Cremonese from the opening stages. Simone Lottici Tessadri found significant space behind the home defence early on before Adina Licina combined skilfully with Tommaso Berti and lifted the ball over the advancing goalkeeper.
Both of Cremonese’s goals came before half-time, completing a notable away victory over their top-flight opponents. Despite the result, the club confirmed later in the day that Giampaolo had been sacked.
The other match on the opening evening also brought an away win, with Monza beating Torino 1-0 to set up a Round of 16 meeting with Milan.
Torino have now lost three consecutive matches under coach Ignazio Abate, across Serie A and the Coppa Italia, and were unable to make home advantage count.
Monza had a first-half penalty overturned by VAR after an offside was identified during the build-up. Dany Mota Carvalho then came close to opening the scoring when his header from a Ricardo Mangas cross struck the crossbar.
The forward eventually found the decisive goal after a low ball travelled through a group of Torino defenders, allowing him to finish from close range.
Torino pressed for an equaliser, but Monza came close to doubling their lead when Jay Robinson struck the frame of the goal from outside the penalty area. The effort also caught debutant Lucas Perri by surprise.
There was further late drama when Torino were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time for a Lucchesi handball. However, the decision was overturned following another VAR review because the arm was hanging beside the body and had not moved towards the ball.
The incident would have resulted in a penalty under the rules used last season, but the current interpretation requires the arm to move towards the ball.
There is no extra time in the Coppa Italia Round of 32. Matches level after 90 minutes go directly to a penalty shoot-out, although neither tie on the opening night required one.
The remaining Round of 32 fixtures are:
2 September
Sassuolo v Frosinone, 14:00 UK time – winner plays Juventus
Udinese v Venezia, 17:00 – winner plays Atalanta
3 September
Palermo v Mantova, 17:00 – winner plays Bologna
Cagliari v Verona, 20:00 – winner plays Roma
15 September
Genoa v Sudtirol, 17:00 – winner plays Inter
Fiorentina v Pisa, 20:00 – winner plays Napoli
