Game 20, Serie B
Sunday, January 28, 1962
Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Lazio Cosenza 3-0
Lazio beat Cosenza thanks to Gratton, Prini and Bizzarri and are back on track for promotion
Lazio took on a decent pace and finished the first half of the season in third place, just one point behind second place Modena (NB. The first three teams were promoted). The Biancocelesti had stayed second for a lengthy period but then four draws and one loss in the last five matches had slowed them down.
Cosenza were 17th so it would be important today to take the two points.
The match
The bad defeat the previous Sunday at Alessandria translated into four days of exile for the players at Bolsena, north of Viterbo, where they had been for the pre-season training. This, plus the introduction in the first eleven of players that had almost been forgotten – Nello Governato, Maurilio Prini and Guido Gratton – gave an extra energy to the team and they immediately started on the front foot.
In the 6th minute Prini missed a sitter after a splendid Governato-Claudio Bizzarri one-two. Six minutes later the Biancocelesti went ahead. Prini to Giancarlo Morrone on the edge of the box, brilliant pass to Gratton and it was 1-0 for Lazio.
Prini continued to miss chances: in the 21st minute he shot wide from a favourable position and three minutes later missed another sitter after an excellent Lazio attack. At this point the Biancocelesti lost a bit of energy and handed the initiative over to the Calabrians. Adelmo Eufemi managed to wall a Manilo Compagno missile in the 31st minute and the latter almost equalised ten minutes later with a great shot that went just wide.
Nothing changed in the second half. In the 51st minute Idilio Cei was fantastic, first on an Elio Ardit shot then on the possible tap in from Compagno. Lazio fought back on the counter attack but Bizzarri missed an easy chance. In the 75th minute Visconti Follador fouled Morrone in the box but the referee was not impressed. The Argentine forward was again fouled in the penalty area two minutes later and this time the ref gave Lazio the penalty. Prini did not miss.
The second goal gave Lazio the tranquillity they needed and they regained control of the match. Four minutes from time, Morrone-Governato one-two, ball to Bizzarri who made it three.
Cosenza were a little bit nervous in the finale: Edoardo Orlando got a red card for a brutal foul on Bizzarri and Compagno was a little rough on Cei.
Good win for Lazio, their first in two months.
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Todeschini
Who played for Cosenza
Sartori, Follador, Orlando, Pagni, Federici, Beltrami, Compagno, Ardit, Lenzi, Dalla Pietra, Costariol
Manager: Zsengeller
Referee: Varazzani
Goals: 12’ Gratton, 77’ Prini (pen), 86’ Bizzarri
Sources
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