Two points in the bag
A last gasp Bagatti goal gives Lazio a deserved win
The season so far
The previous season had been a disaster and Lazio had dropped into Serie B for the second time in their history. Following the World Cup elimination of 1966 by North Korea, the Italia federation had decided to reduce the number of Serie A teams to 16 hence for the 1966-67 season four teams would be relegated. With one game to go, Spal, Vicenza and Lazio had 27 points and Brescia 28. Foggia, Venezia and Lecco had already been mathematically relegated so there was one place left. Final games: Juventus-Lazio, Brescia-Cagliari, Vicenza-Bologna and Spal-Venezia.
At the end of the first half Vicenza and Lazio were 0-0, Spal and Brescia were losing. There was still hope, but in the second half Lazio collapsed and Spal turned the game around. The Biancocelesti were relegated by one point.
Maino Neri, who had taken the place of Umberto Mannocchi earlier last season, was not confirmed as manager and in came Renato Gei. New arrivals were goalkeeper Rosario Di Vincenzo (Potenza), Pierluigi Ronzon (Napoli), Piero Cucchi (Varese), Nello Governato back from his loan to Vicenza, Costantino Fava (Treviso) and Giuliano Fortunato (Milan). Leaving Lazio were Piero Dotti and Vito D’Amato, both to Inter, Can Bartu (Fenerbahce), Enrico Burlando (Varese) and Roberto Gori (Livorno). In the Autumn transfer window Carlo Soldo had arrived from Inter.
In Coppa Italia Lazio had been eliminated by Reggina in the second round.
In Serie B, the Biancocelesti had not been doing very well and were 7th, but there was still time to improve since the promotion zone was only three points away.
The match: Sunday, December 10, 1967, Stadio Flaminio, Rome
The Biancocelesti started really well and after two minutes a great play between Fortunato and Giancarlo Morrone gave Piero Cucchi an opportunity which he squandered with a lame shot. In the 8th minute Fortunato also managed to dribble past the Venezia goalkeeper but could not control the ball which went over the baseline. Two minutes later Cucchi was fouled in the box but the referee closed both eyes. He did so in the 30th minute when Cucchi again was fouled in the box, but this time Ettore Carminati booked the Lazio midfielder for diving. The crowd was not pleased.
In the second half Lazio continued to push forward in search of a goal and in the 57th minute a great low cross from Cucchi passed through the box without any of Biancocelesti forwards able to tap the ball in.
In the 63rd minute there was a free kick for Venezia. Perfect shot from Marcello Neri and the Neroverdi went ahead. But six minutes later Romano Bagatti crossed into the box, Bartolomeo Tarantino anticipated his goalkeeper giving Morrone a marvellous opportunity which he did not miss. Lazio 1 Venezia 1.
The Biancocelesti pushed forward and the ultimate prize arrived one minute from the end. Governato to Soldo who saw Bagatti in the box back to the goal. Ball to him and the Lazio forward turned around and with a clinical shot beat Giovanni Bubacco.
A well-deserved victory for the Biancocelesti.
Who played for Lazio
Substitute: Di Vincenzo
Manager Gei
Who played for Venezia
Bubacco, Tarantino, Grossi, Neri, Lenzi, Spagni, Bertogna, Penzo, Mencacci, Ragonesi, Bellinazzi.
Substitute: Terreni.
Manager: Segato.
Referee: Carminati
Goals: 62’ Neri, 68’ Morrone, 89’ Bagatti
What happened next
In the next eight games Lazio scored just one goal, on a penalty. The drew 0-0 four times in a row, plus another two, and lost two. Despite all this there was still hope since third place was just three points away, but further defeats and further goalless draws meant that Serie A was not going to happen. With 12 0-0s in one season and no victories away from home, promotion was impossible. And it was a pity since third place in the end was just ten points away.
The player with the most appearances was Ronzon with 42, and top scorer Fortunato with just 5 goals.
Lazio 1967-68
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie B | 40 | 10 | 18 | 12 | 33 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 |
Total | 42 | 11 | 18 | 13 | 34 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
Ronzon | 42 | 40 | 2 |
Fortunato | 36 | 34 | 2 |
Gioia | 36 | 34 | 2 |
Zanetti | 31 | 31 | - |
Governato | 31 | 30 | 1 |
Top Goal Scorers
Player | Serie B |
Fortunato | 5 |
Morrone | 4 |
Massa | 3 |
Let's talk about Romano Bagatti
Romano Bagatti was born near Pisa on September 12, 1939 and started his football career with Pontedera. In 1959 he signed for Spal in Serie A and stayed there for three years not really playing a great deal (just 32 league appearances). He played a great deal more in 1964-65 with Messina and, despite the Giallorossi's relegation to Serie B, he scored 10 goals in 34 appearances. The next season he signed for Varese who had just come back to Serie A but even here the team was relegated at the end of the season.
In 1966 he signed for Lazio and he witnessed relegation for the third consecutive year. One funny incident took place in October 1966. Lazio were losing 2-1 against Milan and with two minutes to go, the referee, Aurelio Angonese mistakenly ended the game. The Biancocelesti protested but it took a while for the referee to realise his mistake. Once he did, all the players were summoned back to the pitch to play the last two minutes. Unfortunately, Paolo Carosi was in the shower, so he quickly had to dry off and put his kit back on. He was really angry and refused to tie his shoelaces and to go back to the position where he was supposed to play. He just stayed put at midfield. There were only two minutes left, what was the point? But a stray ball arrived his way and he saw that Bagatti was unmarked. He quickly passed the ball to the Lazio striker who made it 2-2!!!
Bagatti played quite a lot in his first year at Lazio but in the next two he made only 9 appearances. Mind you he played a lot more in the De Martino Championship for the reserves, which the Biancocelesti won in 1968.
In 1969 he signed for Alessandria in Serie C and then played one more year with Pontedera before retiring.
Bagatti was a good right winger, very fast, who also scored quite a lot of goals in his career. But not with Lazio.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup |
1966-67 | 34 (7) | 29 (4) | - | 2 | 3 (3) |
1967-68 | 8 (2) | - | 8 (2) | - | - |
1968-69 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - |
Total | 43 (9) | 29 (4) | 9 (3) | 2 | 3 (3) |
Sources
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