Opinion: 3 notable performances from Monday's draw

Roma showed tremendous spirit in bringing AC Milan’s perfect Serie A start to an end in a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Giuseppe Meazza on Monday night - as Paulo Fonseca’s men secured a point, despite trailing three times.

We’ve highlighted three individual Roma performances that stood out from the first point taken off league leaders Milan this season…

ANTONIO MIRANTE

It was Pau Lopez who applied some pressure after a superb first appearance of the season in the victory over Young Boys on Thursday night, and Mirante made a string of vital saves in Milan to prove there is a fierce battle on for the Roma No. 1 shirt.

The 37-year-old stopper may well have conceded three (although one was a penalty), but he also made six saves in total - including a vital stop to deny Frank Kessie a fourth in the dying embers of the game.

The Ivorian met Hakan Calhanoglu’s 89th-minute corner and looked to have sealed victory for the hosts, only to be denied by the reactions of Mirante; who ensured Roma left with a much deserved point.

MARASH KUMBULLA

The 20-year-old Albania centre-back is becoming a regular fixture in these pieces and his remarkable start to the 2020-21 campaign shows no sign of abating.

Having scored his first Roma goal on his debut in European club competition on Thursday - the winner in the aforementioned 3-2 win in Switzerland - Kumbulla came up with the goods in front of goal once more.

Roma fans will already have been pleased by the manner in which Kumbulla has slotted into the Giallorossi defence, and his developing knack for scoring crucial goals at the other end of the pitch will certainly also be welcomed.

EDIN DZEKO

After - by his own immense standards - a fairly slow start to the season in front of goal, the Roma captain has certainly found his feet with back-to-back league goals.

His majestic back post rise to nod home Lorenzo Pellegrini’s cunning corner was Dzeko’s third Serie A goal in his last two matches and, as the first of three equalisers, it established early fight in Fonseca’s men.

The 34-year-old - who gave the Milan defence a torrid time all night both in the air and on the deck - further emphasised the never-say-die attitude that rubbed off on his teammates by finishing the game having made more recoveries (10) than any other player on the pitch.

In a game billed as a first head-to-head battle between Dzeko and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the No. 9 rose to the challenge to make sure he had his bit to say on the game as well.