Piece of cake
Despite missing vital players, Lazio easily beat Cesena with goals from Chinaglia and Nanni in the first half.
Also on this day: March 10, 2019, Fiorentina Lazio 1-1. Lazio scored in the first half and had numerous chances, but they let the Viola in the door and were punished. Player of the day: Romulo
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had gone agonisingly close to winning the scudetto. With 45 minutes to go to the end of the campionato, Lazio were drawing at Napoli and had a potential of 44 points, Milan were losing at Verona and had 44 points, Juventus were losing against Roma and were on 43 points. But Napoli fought as if their lives depended on a win and beat Lazio in the final minutes, Juventus overturned the match after the Roma players basically stopped playing and Milan collapsed. Lazio came third.
The feeling was that the glory ship had set sail leaving Lazio behind and would not return. The summer transfer window was practically null, but in the autumn there would be two signings, midfielder Fausto Inselvini from Brescia who would go on to play 11 league games and forward Paolo Franzoni from Brindisi who would score in the first derby of the season.
Lazio started slowly, but gained momentum after winning the derby, coming from behind and at the end of the first half of the season they were first with a three-point lead over Juventus, Fiorentina and Napoli. They were amazing to watch, a marvellous football team with great players in every position. Nobody thought that they could continue playing as well as the previous season, but they did and went even further. Two weeks before today’s game the Biancocelesti had thoroughly beaten Juventus 3-1 at home. Glory was so close …
The match: Sunday, March 10, 1974, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio came into the match with three vital pieces missing: Sergio Petrelli, Luigi Martini and Luciano Re Cecconi were substituted by Luigi Polentes, Fausto Inselvini and Pierpaolo Manservisi.
Despite the difficulties, Lazio charged forward right from the word go and a Giorgio Chinaglia header went just wide. In the 25th minute the Lazio centre-forward was clearly fouled in the box but the referee was looking the other way. Five minutes later Cesena almost scored. Giuliano Bertarelli crossed from the left, Giancarlo Oddi could not intercept, and the ball fell to Giovanni Toschi. Felice Pulici managed to save with the help of the crossbar.
The danger translated into increased effort from the Biancocelesti and in the 32nd minute a Franco Nanni shot was saved in two attempts by Lamberto Boranga. Three minutes later Lazio scored. Long cross in the box from Mario Frustalupi, the ball reached Chinaglia who had no problem in beating the Cesena goalkeeper.
Five minutes later, Lazio made it two. Manservisi to Nanni who dummied a shot with his right foot to then shoot with his left. 2-0.
Cesena had a chance in the 43rd minute but Otello Catania’s shot went wide.
The second half was rather boring as Lazio decided to control the game and not push as hard. After a Renzo Garlaschelli header went just wide in the 50th minute, Cesena had a colossal chance in the 56th minute. Gian Luigi Savoldi, entered the penalty box, dribbled past Pulici but his shot was saved on the line by Giuseppe Wilson. The match ended with another Garlaschelli attempt, well saved by Boranga.
Lazio maintained the three-point lead.
Who played for Lazio
Pulici, Polentes, Inselvini, Wilson, Oddi, Nanni, Garlaschelli, D’Amico (75’ Borgo), Chinaglia, Frustalupi, Manservisi
Substitutes: Moriggi, Facco
Manager: Maestrelli
Who played for Cesena
Boranga, Danova, Ammoniaci, Festa (62' Orlandi), Zaniboni, Cera, Catania, Brignani, Bertarelli, Savoldi (II), Toschi.
Substitutes: Mantovani, Braida.
Manager: Bersellini.
Referee: Agnolin
Goals: 35’ Chinaglia, 40’ Nanni
A couple of players of the Cesena team would go on to play for Lazio. Paolo Ammoniaci arrived in 1975 and played a total of 113 games for Lazio. Francesco Brignani also arrived in 1975 but only played 20 games.
Another two names must be mentioned. Manager Eugenio Bersellini would go on to win a scudetto and two Coppa Italia with Inter and another national cup with Sampdoria. Ariedo Braida, who was on the bench in this game, after quitting football became sports director. He would win everything possible with AC Milan and then work for Barcelona.
What happened next
On May 12, 1974, Lazio beat Foggia with a Chinaglia penalty and won the scudetto. An amazing feat. Lazio played the most exciting football, had a bunch of wild players who were all stars and fit together perfectly, managed by the Maestro, Tommaso Maestrelli. Pulici, Petrelli, Martini, Wilson, Oddi, Nanni, Garlaschelli, Re Cecconi, Chinaglia, Frustalupi, D’Amico would all become club legends and have a place in the hearts of all Lazio supporters. But also Inselvini, Franzoni, Facco, Manservisi and Polentes who all lent a hand to reach the final apotheosis and will never be forgotten.
A perfect year, ending in triumph.
Lazio 1973-74
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 45 |
Coppa Italia | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
UEFA Cup | 4 | 2 | - | 2 | 8 |
Total | 44 | 23 | 10 | 11 | 63 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Chinaglia | 42 | 30 | 8 | 4 |
Nanni | 42 | 30 | 8 | 4 |
Oddi | 42 | 30 | 8 | 4 |
Wilson | 42 | 30 | 8 | 4 |
Frustalupi | 40 | 30 | 6 | 4 |
Top five goalscorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Chinaglia | 34 | 24 | 4 | 6 |
Garlaschelli | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 |
Nanni | 2 | 2 | - | - |
D'Amico | 2 | 2 | - | - |
Re Cecconi | 2 | 2 | - | - |
Let's talk about Franco Nanni
Franco Nanni is one of the heroes of the Lazio scudetto of 1974. A great dynamic midfielder whose main characteristic was his cracking shot from outside the penalty box which earned the nickname “bombardino” (little bomber).
Nanni was born in Pisa on May 11, 1948. He began his footballing career in the youth teams of Pisa and Juventus as a forward, and only later as a midfielder. He debuted professionally with Trapani in Serie C in 1968.
In November 1969 he signed for Lazio. In the early years with the Biancocelesti he struggled to find space in the team. He was very timid so basically ignored by manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo. But he did find space in the reserve team championship, which Lazio won in the 1970-71 season, and the fans repeatedly asked for him to play for the A team. This finally happened with the arrival of Tommaso Maestrelli in 1971-72 and he was a fundamental protagonist of Lazio’s return to Serie A.
His rise to fame took place on November 12, 1972, when his powerful shot from 30 metres gave Lazio a win in the derby. From then on Little Bomber would be in all Lazio fans' hearts. Maestrelli gave him the job of man marking the opponents playmaker and he did that brilliantly. He also had quality and could play the ball, similar to Nello Governato.
The year after winning the scudetto, Lazio sold him to Bologna. He stayed three years with the Rossoblu and then moved to Brescia in Serie B for a season. He ended his career with Viterbese in Serie D.
He played 89 games for Lazio in Serie A, 27 in Serie B, 25 in Coppa Italia, four in the UEFA Cup, two in the Intercities Fairs Cup, 4 in the Anglo Italian Cup and 5 in the Cup of the Alps. He scored 15 goals for the Biancocelesti, 12 in Serie A and 3 in Coppa Italia.
Once he quit football he became a manager and was head coach for a few minor teams before Chinaglia called him up in 1985 and he started working as assistant coach for the youth teams and as manager of the Lazio Women team as well. He collaborated with the club for 12 years.
On a personal note, I will never forget Franco Nanni. I finally got my parents to allow me to go to see a football match at the Stadio Olimpico since it was the last game of the season. I went to see Lazio Bologna on May 7, 1978. Lovely and exciting day, ruined by Lazio losing 1-0 with a Nanni goal. Just typical of Lazio!!!
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup | Fairs Cup | Anglo Italian Cup | Cup of the Alps |
1969-70 | 11 | 6 | | - | - | - | 2 | 3 |
1970-71 | 7 (1) | 1 (1) | | 2 | - | 2 | - | 2 |
1971-72 | 36 (3) | 27 | 9 (3) | - | - | - | - | |
1972-73 | 35 (7) | 30 (7) | - | 3 | - | - | 2 | - |
1973-74 | 42 (2) | 30 (2) | - | 8 | 4 | - | - | - |
1974-75 | 25 (2) | 22 (2) | - | 3 | - | - | - | - |
Total | 156 (15) | 89 (12) | 27 | 25 (3) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
Sources
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