Chinaglia to the rescue
A 91st minute "Long John" winner keeps Lazio top of the table.
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had been promoted back to Serie A under "Il Maestro", Tommaso Maestrelli. Top scorer had been "Long John" Giorgio Chinaglia with 26 goals (21 in B). Lazio had also had the satisfaction of beating Roma in a Coppa Italia game (1-0, Chinaglia).
This season Maestrelli was obviously still the manager but there had been some important changes to the squad. The main players arriving were: goalkeeper Felice Pulici (Novara), defender Sergio Petrelli (a rare deal with Roma), midfielders Mario Frustalupi (Inter), Pierpaolo Manservisi (Napoli-end of loan), Ferruccio Mazzola (Fiorentina- end of loan) and Luciano Re Cecconi (Foggia) plus forward Renzo Garlaschelli (Como).
Leaving were keepers Claudio Bandoni (Catanzaro) and Rosario Di Vincenzo (Brindisi), defender Giuseppe Papadopulo (Brindisi), midfielders Arrigo Dolso (Alessandria), Giuseppe Massa (Inter) and Alessandro Abbondanza (Napoli-end of loan) plus forwards Carlo Facchin (retiring) and Giuliano Fortunato (Lecce).
So quite a lot of changes to the squad. The main sacrifice was letting go of Massa but the arrival of Frustalupi would turn out to be a history changer for Lazio.
The season had started in August with the Coppa Italia. It went badly and Lazio were out, after losing 3 (Napoli 0-1 at home, Brindisi 0-1 away and Taranto 1-2 at home) and drawing 1 (Palermo 0-0 away).
In Serie A fortunately things had gone much better. After eight games Lazio had 13 points and were top of the table, one point ahead of Inter. The Biancocelesti had won 5 (Fiorentina 1-0 and Vicenza 2-1, both away, Ternana 2-1 at home, the derby 1-0 and Palermo 2-0 at home) and drawn 3 (Inter 0-0 and Juventus 1-1, both at home and Atalanta 1-1 away the previous week).
Cagliari had finished 4th the previous season and qualified for the UEFA Cup. The manager was still the 1969-70 Scudetto winning Manlio "il Filosofo" Scopigno.
This season Scopigno had joined Roma and the new manager was Edmondo Fabbri. The main new signing was forward, former Lazio, Mario Maraschi from Vicenza while leaving were keeper Adriano Reginato and midfielder Ricciotti Greatti both retiring.
Cagliari had so far won 1, drawn 4 and lost 3 (but including Inter and Juventus away). They were struggling in joint 10th position with four other teams and just one point above bottom placed Sampdoria and Vicenza.
In the UEFA Cup the Sardinians had been eliminated by Olympiakos 1-3 on aggregate.
In Coppa Italia, however, they had won 4 out of 4 and would play the second round in May-June 1973.
Lazio hoped to stay top today against dangerous but currently lowly opponents.
The match: Sunday, December 3, 1972, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A mild and sunny afternoon saw a big 70,000 crowd gather at the Olimpico.
Rome was still under shock from the tragic explosion which had killed 17 people, including 5 children. An illegal firework stock in a basement had caused a whole block to go up in the air.
Cagliari were also in mourning and wore black armbands for the recent passing of Sardinian Antonio Segni, former Italian President of the Republic.
Lazio were without Pier Paolo Manservisi while Cagliari had defender Giuseppe Tomasini absent. The Sardinians however had Gigi Riva, Angelo Domenghini and Sergio Gori all match fit again.
Lazio started on the front foot and almost scored immediately. In the 2nd minute Giacomo La Rosa went down the left and crossed but neither Giorgio Chinaglia nor Renzo Garlaschelli managed to get a winning touch on the ball. There followed several Enrico Albertosi saves on Chinaglia, Garlaschelli and Luciano Re Cecconi.
Cagliari absorbed the pressure and on their first counterattack scored. A Riva lob hit the crossbar, came back down and hit Felice Pulici's leg, he then slapped it onto the post and it went in. Lazio 0 Cagliari 1. Against the run of play and a bit lucky but the islanders led.
Not long after, in the 21st minute, defender Mario Martiradonna was forced off injured and replaced by Mario Brugnera.
Only a minute later Lazio equalised. Franco Nanni took a free kick, Chinaglia dummied or missed and Garlaschelli nodded in. Lazio 1 Cagliari 1.
The game became more balanced even if it was Lazio who attacked more and were livelier, always getting to the ball before the visitors. At halftime however the score was still 1-1.
The second half started with a huge chance for "Casteddu". In the 48th minute Gori tried a cross which transformed into a shot, hit the post and fell to Riva but "Rombo di Tuono" (Rumble of Thunder) hit the keeper.
From then on it was all Lazio. The Biancocelesti attacked constantly but were unable to make the breakthrough.
The game reached the 90th minute and Lazio had grown increasingly frustrated at not being able to get the winner.
Then in the 91st minute everything changed. The Cagliari midfielder, Poletti in an attempt to waste time, started playing around with the ball just outside the area on the left but lost the ball to Garlaschelli who back-heeled to Sergio Petrelli. “Pedro” crossed low into the middle where "Long John" pounced and beat Albertosi. Lazio 2 Cagliari 1. A late but deserved goal.
Lazio had more or less dominated the game and were worthy winners. Lazio had been more positive, quicker and better organised than Cagliari.
Lazio consolidated their lead at the top of Serie A and now had a two-point advantage on Inter, who had drawn, and Milan.
Cagliari were in trouble and now joint 14th with Vicenza on 6 points, still only one above rock bottom Sampdoria.
Who played for Lazio
Pulici, Facco, Martini, Wilson, Oddi, Nanni, Garlaschelli, Re Cecconi, Chinaglia, Frustalupi, La Rosa (87' Petrelli)
Substitutes: Moriggi
Manager: Maestrelli
Who played for Cagliari
Albertosi, Martiradonna (21' Brugnera), Mancin, Cera, Niccolai, Poletti, Domenghini, Nené, Gori, Roffi, Riva
Substitutes: Copparoni
Manager: Fabbri
Referee: Branzoni
Goals: 14' Pulici (og), 22' Garlaschelli, 90' Chinaglia
What happened next
Lazio did not win again until January 21 (4 draws and a defeat) but picked up again went on to have a fantastic season and challenged for the scudetto until the end. Between February 18 and April 19 Lazio won eight consecutive games (their wins included the second derby 2-0 and Milan 2-1 at home).
Going into the last fixture the table read: Milan 44, Lazio and Juventus 43. Milan were soon 0-4 down at Verona (Milan had played Cup Winners Cup final midweek) and at halftime Lazio were drawing 0-0 in Naples and Juventus losing 0-1 to Roma, in Rome. A playoff between Lazio and Milan was on the cards. Then unfortunately almost surely thanks to "financial incentives" and personal interests Roma stopped playing and lost while Napoli, also apparently paid off by the "Old Lady" played the game of their lives, scored in the 88th minute and acted as if they had won the World Cup.
A pity for Lazio but they had played great football and had an excellent season finishing 3rd. They also won both derbies (1-0, 2-0). Top scorer was Giorgio Chinaglia with 11 goals (10 in A). The following year would be different but that's another story.
Cagliari improved and finished 8th. They then won 8, drew 7 and lost 6 (including Lazio 0-1 at home). Top scorer was Gigi Riva with 20 goals (12 in A).
In Coppa Italia the Rossoblu were then eliminated with 1 win (Milan 1-0 away), 1 draw (Napoli 1-1 at home) and 4 defeats (Milan 0-1, Atalanta 1-2 at home and Napoli 0-1 and Atalanta 1-2 away).
Juventus champions for the 15th time. Going down were Palermo, Atalanta and Ternana while Roma only stayed up on goal difference.
Let’s talk about Cagliari
Cagliari football club were founded in 1920. The main founder was a surgeon named Gaetano Fichera (hence Cagliari's white shirts)
They played their first game on September 8 in a win against fellow islanders Torres.
In 1926 they took on the colours of red and blue. They became known as the Rossoblu or Casteddu (Cagliari in Sardinian).
Until 1928 they only played at regional level but in 1928-29, they joined the Prima Divisione Sud in the Lazio-Umbria group.
In 1930 they achieved promotion to Serie B under Yugoslav manager Ernest Erbstein.
In 1935 they were relegated and went bankrupt. They restarted in 1936-37 as Unione Sportiva Cagliari in the 4th tier. They were immediately promoted to Serie C.
During the Second World War they played at regional level until 1946-47 when the Football Association reintegrated Sardinian clubs into the Italian leagues. They restarted from Serie B but were relegated in 1948.
In 1952 they were promoted again and spent the 1950s in Serie B. In 1954 they went close to promotion, arriving 2nd but lost the A playoff to Pro Patria.
The Sardinians first historic promotion to Serie A came in 1964 under manager Arturo Silvestri with Enrico Spinosi as captain and a young Gigi Riva up front.
There followed Cagliari's glory years. Uruguayan Manlio Scopigno took over as manager in 1966-67 and they finished 6th while in 1967-68 9th under Ettore Puccinelli. In 1968-69 Scopigno returned and Cagliari finished 2nd. A year later came the incredible Scudetto win with players such as keeper Enrico Albertosi, defenders Pierluigi Cera, Mario Martiradonna, Comunardo Niccolai, midfielders Mario Brugnera, Angelo Domenghini and Rocciotto Greatti plus forwards Gigi Riva, Nenė and Sergio Gori. An amazing feat celebrated all over the island.
In the European Cup they reached the last 16 but lost to Atlético Madrid 2-4 on aggregate.
There followed 7th, 4th, 8th and two 10th places, in 1976 however Cagliari were relegated. They came back up in 1979.
The 1980's were difficult. After a 6th place in 80-81 the Rossoblu were relegated in 1983 and again in 1987 to C1.
The late 1980's saw a revival with a double promotion back to Serie A under Claudio Ranieri.
The early 90's were good years with a 6th place in 1993 and UEFA Cup semi-final in 1994 (Inter 3-5 on aggregate). In 1997 however they were relegated again but bounced straight back. In 2000 they went down again but won promotion in 2004.
There followed just over ten stable years in Serie A with a 9th place in 2009.
In 2015 they were relegated again but were back in Serie A a year later and stayed six years. In 2022 it was back down to B but a year later they were promoted, again under Claudio Ranieri.
The current manager is Davide Nicola.
Cagliari's logo is the Sardinian symbol, the four moors. It has been calculated that Cagliari have approximately half a million fans. Their main rivals are Torres and Napoli.
The top ten players in Cagliari's hall of fame are: Gigi Riva (1963-76), Gianfranco Zola (2003-05), Enzo Francescoli (1990-93), David Suazo (1999-2007), Nené (1964-76), Gianfranco Matteoli (1990-94), Roberto Muzzi (1994-99), Luigi Piras (1973-87), Enrico Albertosi (1968-74) and Roberto Boninsegna (1966-69), plus obviously the revered whole 1969-70 squad.
Cagliari have spent 44 seasons in Serie A, 30 in B, 9 in C, 3 in C1 and 3 in the Southern league.
The player with most appearances is Daniele Conti (Bruno's son) with 434, followed by Mario Brugnera with 328 and Gigi Piras with 320.
The top scorers in their history are Gigi Riva with 205, Gigi Piras 104, David Suazo 102, Joāo Pedro 86.
Gigi Riva is indisputably the most popular and representative player in their history. Originally from Lombardy he stayed on to live in Sardinia even after retiring. A hero and adopted Sardo.
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