Romano Floriani Mussolini arrived at the far post onto a Kenneth Taylor cross from the left and finished first time to put Lazio 3-1 up at the Mapei Stadium. The assistant flagged him offside, and only after a lengthy video review was the goal awarded.
It was his first in Serie A. He had scored once in senior football before, for Juve Stabia in Serie B in December 2024, and the goal was the first of his Lazio career after seasons on loan at Pescara, Juve Stabia and Cremonese.
The visitors’ first half was almost as noisy as the surname. Taylor had opened the scoring inside two minutes, Gustav Isaksen made it 2-1 on 13, and Mattia Zaccagni added a fourth before the break. Sassuolo also finished the half a man down, Kristian Thorstvedt sent off for a foul on Zaccagni.
The surname that stays off the shirt
On the back of his jersey, Floriani Mussolini wears “Romano”, his first name. Il Fatto Quotidiano noted that he uses his given name on the shirt to sidestep controversy around the surname.
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He is the son of former politician Alessandra Mussolini and businessman Mauro Floriani, and the grandson of jazz pianist Romano Mussolini, Benito Mussolini’s youngest son. Actress Sophia Loren is his great-aunt. He has said publicly that he has no interest in politics.
Why Lazio makes it louder
That the goal came for Lazio, rather than any other Italian club, is why the story travelled beyond the match report. Sections of the club’s support, particularly in the Curva Nord of the Stadio Olimpico, have carried a well-documented association with the Italian far right for decades. Neo-Nazi banners, Celtic crosses and nostalgic imagery of Benito Mussolini’s wartime dictatorship have been displayed at Lazio matches, and the club has been sanctioned repeatedly for racist and antisemitic chanting from that end of the ground.
Benito Mussolini himself, though a declared Bologna supporter, attended Lazio games during his time in power, which is partly why the Olimpico’s north stand has layered the dictator’s imagery onto its tifo for generations.
A regular starter, and a renewal in the works
Floriani Mussolini has been one of the stories of Gennaro Gattuso’s start to the season at Lazio. The full-back has been a regular starter since Adam Marusic was injured on the opening day, and the club is in advanced talks to extend his deal through 2030, with a wage package that would roughly quadruple his current salary of under €150,000 a season, the lowest in the first-team squad.
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The Sassuolo result lifted Lazio to 25 points from nine matches and provisional top spot in Serie A. Inter Milan, equal with Lazio on 22 points coming into the round, play their matchday 9 fixture at Venezia on Wednesday.
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