Should have won but almost lost

Simon Basten
Jan 12, 2024
3 min read

Season 1974-75

Game 13, Serie A

Sunday, January 12, 1975

Stadio Comunale, Florence

Fiorentina Lazio 1-1

Lazio dominated the first part but wasted chances and Fiorentina came back, equalised, and missed a penalty

In Serie A, the Biancocelesti started well winning the first three games, but then they lost the lead with two points in the next three. By the end of the year they were second, three points behind Juventus. The first match of 1975 was Lazio vs Juve and the Biancocelesti won. Now they were only one point behind the Bianconeri.

The match

Lazio toyed too much with Fiorentina and nearly paid the price. That could be the summary of a match in which the Biancocelesti played cat and mouse until the mouse turned into a lion and the roles were reversed. Tommaso Maestrelli started Vincenzo D’Amico in place of the suspended Renzo Garlaschelli, while Fiorentina had no line-up problems.

The match began with Lazio on the front foot as early as the 4th minute, when Gigi Martini struck a long-range shot that Franco Superchi saved comfortably. Fiorentina responded through Giancarlo Antognoni, who crossed from the by-line for Walter Speggiorin, but the striker mistimed his header and sent the ball well over the crossbar.

In the 10th minute Lazio created their first real scoring chance: a fine cross from Luciano Re Cecconi found D’Amico, who struck the ball first time with the inside of his foot, sending it wide of the post with Superchi already beaten. The match was competitive, with Lazio pushing forward while Fiorentina played more cautiously.

In the 22nd minute Fiorentina were awarded a free kick just outside the area after Pietro Ghedin fouled Speggiorin. Antognoni took it, and the ball struck the underside of the crossbar before bouncing back into play. Five minutes later Lazio took the lead: Antognoni lost a challenge in midfield, D’Amico broke forward and played in Giorgio Chinaglia, who had followed the move. “Long John” fired a powerful right-footed shot into the net, earning sporting applause from the crowd.

Lazio were in complete control and nearly doubled their lead in the 32nd minute. D’Amico produced a brilliant move and delivered the ball into the area, but none of the Lazio attackers could reach it. Lazio dominated possession through to halftime.

At the break, Nereo Rocco replaced the injured Claudio Merlo with Nello Saltutti, while Maestrelli kept his starting eleven unchanged. The second half showed a very different Fiorentina. Antognoni tested Felice Pulici with a shot in the 54th minute, and two minutes later Pulici saved well in a one-on-one against Gianfranco Casarsa. In the 60th minute Vincenzo Guerini tried his luck with a powerful shot, but without success.

The equaliser arrived a minute later. Claudio Desolati pulled the ball back from the wing to Antognoni, who struck a right-footed diagonal shot that Pulici could do nothing about.

Lazio stood off while Fiorentina grew in confidence. In the 67th minute Saltutti missed a chance to put Fiorentina ahead, again denied by a timely intervention from Pulici, who repeated the feat against Fiorentina’s number 14 in the 75th minute. Lazio resurfaced in the 83rd minute, when Giancarlo Galdiolo blocked a Chinaglia effort that was headed for goal. Moments later Superchi tipped over a powerful shot from Chinaglia on the run, saving the Tuscan side.

The match seemed over, but it wasn’t. In the 85th minute Casarsa took a corner, and Giancarlo Oddi blatantly held Saltutti in the area. Referee Agnolin had no hesitation in awarding a penalty. Desolati stepped up, but his shot clipped the top of the crossbar and went out, to the despair of his teammates and supporters—and especially of Nereo Rocco, who was visibly furious.

The match ended there, with a draw that kept Lazio in contention and gave credit to a young Fiorentina side.

Who played for Fiorentina

Superchi, Galdiolo, Roggi, Beatrice, Pellegrini E., Guerini, Casarsa, Merlo (46' Saltutti), Desolati, Antognoni, Speggiorin

Substitutes: Mattolini, Caso

Manager: Rocco

Who played for Lazio

Pulici, Ghedin, Martini, Wilson, Oddi, Nanni (76’ Polentes), D’Amico, Re Cecconi, Chinaglia, Frustalupi, Badiani