A half each and fair draw

Season 1965-66

Game 1, Serie A

Sunday, September 5, 1965

Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Lazio Milan 0-0

Milan on top to start but Lazio better in second half

Source Lazio Wiki

So far Lazio had played one game in Coppa Italia, winning 3-1 at Alessandria. Today was their Serie A debut.

The match

A showery day in Rome meant the ground was wet and slippery. A decent 40,000 crowd had turned up with umbrellas and rain jackets.

Milan started on the front foot and hit the post after three minutes. It was an Amarildo left footed freekick that hit the woodwork with Idilio Cei beaten.

In the 9th minute the Lazio keeper saved Gianni Rivera's attempt from outside the box and a few minutes later cleared a dangerous low cross with his feet just before Bruno Mora or Amarildo could pounce.

Lazio showed their faces on the quarter hour mark. Vito D'Amato went on a good run but after beating several players he hesitated too long before shooting.

Milan had control but were not dangerous again until the half hour when Cei came off his line to interrupt a good Giovanni Trapattoni-Angelo Sormani combination. The two were active again just before halftime but Sormani's header went half a metre wide. Halftime Lazio 0 Milan 0 but the visitors deserved more.

Things changed after the break. Lazio seemed to throw caution to the wind and at the beginning of the second half threatened several times. In the 48th minute Can Bartu took advantage of a Cesare Maldini blunder but fired over the bar from close range. Then D'Amato shaved the post with a dangerous shot.

The rain then intensified and this affected the game which had a lull period.

It came to life in the last twelve minutes when Lazio pushed for a winner. In the 78th minute Diego Zanetti had a long-range shot tipped over the bar by Barluzzi and in the 81st an excellent solitary run by Paolo Carosi was not finished off with the same quality. The last move was a flying Nicola Ciccolo-Bartu combination but the Turk then blasted over the bar. Full time Lazio 0 Milan 0.

A classic game of two halves. Milan had been superior in the first but Lazio had come back well and could have won it in the end. All in all, a draw was a fair result. Despite ending goalless it was a decent, hard fought and physical game played in difficult conditions.

Who played for Lazio

Cei, Zanetti, Vitali, Carosi, Pagni, Dotti, Renna, Bartu, D'Amato, Governato, Ciccolo

Manager: Mannocci

Who played for Milan

Barluzzi, Noletti, Schnellinger, Pelagalli, Maldini, Trapattoni, Mora, Lodetti, Amarildo, Rivera, Sormani

Manager: Liedholm

Referee: De Marchi

Sources

Lazio Wiki