Radja Nainggolan made a strong impact on his Serie B debut with SPAL, scoring a goal and providing an assist to spark a comeback, but unable to prevent the 4-3 defeat to Bari.
It was an uphill struggle for the Belgian when he came off the bench at the 51st minute with SPAL already 3-0 down to goals from Michael Folorunsho, Sebastiano Esposito and Walid Cheddira.
However, the former Roma, Inter and Cagliari man made an immediate impact, his cross nodded in by Gabriele Moncini for 3-1.
Mirco Antenucci added a fourth for Bari, but late on Nainggolan hit a right-foot scorcher into the net from distance and then Raffaele Celia set up a thrilling finale.
It wasn’t quite enough for coach Daniele De Rossi to pick up a point, but certainly a great debut for Nainggolan, who joined on a free transfer after his ill-fated and brief experience at Royal Antwerp.