Game 26, Serie A
Sunday, January 18, 1998
Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
Fiorentina Lazio 1-3
Fiorentina played well but Lazio were lethal and capitalised on the Viola’s mistakes. Today is also the anniversary of Luciano Re Cecconi’s absurd death.
The change in Lazio between Zdenek Zeman's mentality and Sven-Goran Eriksson's was a bit slow at the beginning. Lazio were not playing all that well, even though they beat Roma 3-1 and had drawn in Milan both against Inter and Milan. But some signs of improvement were showing especially since the controversial loss against Juventus in early December. Three wins and a draw plus the thrashing of Roma in Coppa Italia were a sign that success was just around the corner.
The match
Fiorentina had not lost for the past ten games, Lazio had also started to do well in recent times so there was a lot of expectation for this match. It was the 2000th Serie A game for Fiorentina who had just signed Edmundo from Vasco da Gama but had left him on the bench.
In the first 10 minutes both teams had half chances but the first real threat for Lazio was a Gabriel Batistuta free kick, well saved by Luca Marchegiani in the 22th minute. Six minutes later Fiorentina scored. Cross from the left, Marchegiani punched the ball away, Sandro Cois picked it up just outside the penalty box and with a perfect volley sent the ball into the net. It was goal number 3000 in Fiorentina's history.
The 1-0 however was short-lived. Three minutes later Matias Almeyda tried to pass the ball to Alen Boksic, Pasquale Padalino fumbled and Boksic was free to run towards goal with 30 metres to go. No problem for the Alien, 1-1. Pavel Nedved had a shot saved by Francesco Toldo and Domenico Morfeo had a chance towards the end of the first half but his shot was wide.
The match changer occurred in the 49th minute. Stefan Schwarz punched Vladimir Jugovic and was sent off. Eriksson moved Jugovic to the right in order to capitalise but Fiorentina were the team who had more chances. In the 16th minute Cois again was dangerous but his volley was wide. In the 26th minute Rui Costa passed the ball to Batistuta just inside the penalty box on the right. His shot hit the crossbar.
Lazio then decided that it was time to take advantage of the extra man. In the 78th minute Nedved crossed from the left, Roberto Mancini all alone in the centre in front of the goalkeeper fumbled, in came Roberto Rambaudi, 2-1 for Lazio. Six minutes later Lazio made it three. Rambaudi to Boksic who passed the ball to Nedved on the left just inside the box, big whack, 3-1, game over.
Big win for Lazio on the anniversary of Luciano Re Cecconi's absurd death.
Who played for Fiorentina
Toldo, Falcone (79' Tarozzi), Firicano (86' Robbiati), Padalino, Serena, Cois, Rui Costa, Schwarz, Oliveira, Batistuta, Morfeo (85' Edmundo)
Substitutes: Fiori, Bigica, Bettarini, Kanchelskis
Manager: Malesani
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, Nesta, Negro, Favalli (36’ G. Lopez), Almeyda (68’ Rambaudi), Venturin, Jugovic, Nedved, Boksic, R. Mancini (88’ Marcolin)
Manager: Eriksson
Referee: Cesari
Goals: 29’ Cois, 31' Boksic, 78’ Rambaudi, 84’ Nedved
Sources
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