The great-grandson of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini scored his first Lazio goal on Tuesday evening.

Romano Floriani Mussolini, 23, scored Lazio’s third goal in the 16th minute during a 6-2 victory over Sassuolo in Serie A.

The defender, who wears "Romano" saw his initial celebrations curtailed when an offside flag went up, but the Lazio youth product was able to celebrate properly once the decision was overturned on video review.

It was Mussolini’s first strike in the Italian top flight and only the second of his career, with his previous goal arriving two years ago in the second division during a loan spell at Juve Stabia.

The defender, whose full name is Romano Benito Floriani Mussolini, is connected to Benito Mussolini via his mother's side of the family.

He has publicly stated that he holds no interest in politics.

The victory ensured that Lazio maintained their unbeaten start to the season, sending them provisionally to the top of the Serie A table.

Gennaro Gattuso's side have eight wins from nine games and are on 25 points, three ahead of Inter Milan, who visit bottom ⁠club Venezia on Wednesday.

Lazio, backed by a sizeable away support, roared into a second-minute lead through Kenneth Taylor but the game had barely restarted following a lengthy VAR check when Kristian Thorstvedt equalised.

Lazio ​looked ⁠in control with quick goals ‌from Gustav Isaksen and Mussolini before Sassuolo's hopes of a comeback took a hammering just after the ‌half-hour mark when Thorstvedt was shown ‌a red card for a foul on Mattia Zaccagni.

Sassuolo did, however, pull a goal back two minutes from halftime through Sebastiano Esposito only to see Lazio restore their two-goal advantage in added time before the break when Zaccagni was allowed a free header from Isaksen's cross.

Zaccagni spurned a chance to score again shortly after the interval when Simone Cinquegrano's handball gave Lazio a penalty, but the captain's tame spot kick was saved by ‌Stefano Turati.

Lazio found a fifth goal with Tijjani Noslin's curled shot from outside the box before a foul by Duje Caleta-Car on `Isaksen gave the visitors another penalty, and this time Turati saved from Davide Frattesi.

Noslin again made up for Lazio's wastefulness from ‌the spot with ​another strike from distance to ‌complete the scoring as Gattuso's ​side continue to look like real title contenders.