January 21, 1973: Lazio-Napoli 3-0
- Dag Jenkins
- Jan 21
- 9 min read
Goals, Rain and Brawls
Lazio bury Napoli with three second half goals before game turns ugly
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had been promoted back to Serie A under "Il Maestro", Tommaso Maestrelli. Top scorer had been "Long John" Giorgio Chinaglia with 26 goals (21 in B). Lazio had also had the satisfaction of beating Roma in a Coppa Italia game (1-0, Chinaglia).
This season Maestrelli was obviously still the manager but there had been some important changes to the squad. The main players arriving were: goalkeeper Felice Pulici (Novara), defender Sergio Petrelli (a rare deal with Roma), midfielders Mario Frustalupi (Inter), Pierpaolo Manservisi (Napoli-end of loan), Ferruccio Mazzola (Fiorentina- end of loan) and Luciano Re Cecconi (Foggia) plus forward Renzo Garlaschelli (Como).
Leaving were keepers Claudio Bandoni (Catanzaro) and Rosario Di Vincenzo (Brindisi), defender Giuseppe Papadopulo (Brindisi), midfielders Arrigo Dolso (Alessandria), Giuseppe Massa (Inter) and Alessandro Abbondanza (Napoli-end of loan) plus forwards Carlo Facchin (retiring) and Giuliano Fortunato (Lecce).
So quite a lot of changes to the squad. The main sacrifice was letting go of Massa but the arrival of Frustalupi would turn out to be a history changer for Lazio.
The season had started in August with the Coppa Italia. It went badly and Lazio were out, after losing 3 (Napoli 0-1 at home, Brindisi 0-1 away and Taranto 1-2 at home) and drawing 1 (Palermo 0-0 away).
In Serie A fortunately, things had gone much better. After 14 games Lazio had 19 points and were joint 2nd with Inter, one point behind leaders Milan and Juventus. The Biancocelesti had won 6 (including the first derby 1-0), drawn 7 (including Inter 0-0 and Juventus 1-1 at home) and lost 1 (Milan 1-3 away). The Biancocelesti however had not won for five matches (D4, L1). Time to start winning again.
Despite recent results Lazio were still in a good position, the table read Milan 20, Juventus 20, Inter 19, Lazio 19, Fiorentina 17.
Napoli had finished 8th the previous season under manager Giuseppe Chiapella. They had also reached the Coppa Italia final but lost to Milan 0-2. The top scorer was Josè Altafini with 8 league goals.
This season Chiapella was still the manager. The Partenopei's main signings were goalkeeper Pietro Carmignani (Juventus), defenders Giuseppe Bruscolotti (Sorrento), Angelo Rimbano (Varese) and Giovanni Vavassori, midfielder Domenico Fontana (Vicenza) plus forwards Cané (Bari), Oscar Damiani (Vicenza), Giorgio Mariani (Verona) and Alessandro Abbondanza (Lazio - back from loan).
Leaving were goalkeeper Dino Zoff (Juventus), defender Giacomo Vianello (Atalanta), Mario Perego (Fiorentina), Carlo Ripari (Vicenza - on loan), midfielder Vincenzo Montefusco (Vicenza - on loan) plus forwards Angelo Sormani (Fiorentina), Emiliano Macchi (Fiorentina - end of loan), Pierpaolo Manservisi (Lazio - end of loan) and José Altafini (Juventus, after 234 games and 97 goals).
The Azzurri had started their season with the Coppa Italia. They topped Lazio's group with 3 wins (Brindisi 3-0 and Taranto 1-0 at home plus Lazio 1-0 away) and 1 draw (Palermo 1-1 away). They would play the second-round group with Milan, Atalanta and Cagliari but not until May-June.
In Serie A Napoli were currently 9th, on 12 points with Verona, Cagliari and Atalanta. They had won 3, drawn 6 (including Juventus 1-1 and Milan 0-0 at home) and lost 5. They had not won a game since November 5 (Fiorentina 3-0 at home).
Lazio were favourites today. The Biancocelesti had more points and despite the fact they had not won for a while, Napoli were worse off not having won in the last 9 games and not scoring a single goal in the last 5.
The match: Sunday, January 21, 1973, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A grim day with constant rain saw about 45,000 turn up at the Olimpico. The pitch was heavy due to the meteorological conditions.
Lazio were only without long-term injury Vincenzo D'Amico while the visitors were missing defender Giuseppe Bruscolotti.
Lazio came out strongly and scored in the first minute with a spectacular Renzo Garlaschelli bicycle kick but the referee disallowed it due to a previous foul by Franco Nanni in the build-up.
Napoli's defensive approach and the slow pitch then stifled Lazio's attacks for the whole first half. Napoli's midfield led by an excellent Antonio Juliano managed to limit the threats to the Neapolitan area. Halftime Lazio 0 Napoli 0.
Tommaso Maestrelli had some wise words in the changing rooms and Lazio came back on transformed. They were suddenly sharper, quicker and above all convinced they could score.
They pinned Napoli back and immediately had chances, the keeper saved on Garlaschelli, Pino Wilson was stopped for an offside and then Garlaschelli and Pierpaolo Manservisi got in each other's way just two metres from the goal line.
They scored in the 50th minute. The ball was hovering near the goal after a Nanni cross and "Uccellino" Manservisi was the fastest to react and pounced giving Lazio the lead, 1-0.
The crowd was on fire and Lazio were on a high. They continued to charge forward and Napoli were on the ropes.
Lazio's second goal came in the 69th minute. Giorgio Chinaglia fed Nanni and "Bombardino" showed off his speciality, a cracking long range, left-footed shot which gave Pietro Carmignani no chance, 2-0.
At this point the game turned a bit nasty with several arguments and fouls, especially between "Long John" Chinaglia and his marker Giovanni Vavassori.
In the 87th minute Giorgione put an end to the contest, to the sporting one at least. Mario Frustalupi put a perfectly dosed long ball forward which the Carrara-born striker ran onto and hammered it past Carmignani, 3-0. Chinaglia continued his run under the Curva to celebrate with the fans while the Neapolitans protested furiously with the referee for an offside position (highly unlikely from TV footage).
The game ended with continuous spats between the opposing players. These continued in the tunnel after the final whistle as Angelo Rimbano and Vavassori surrounded Chinaglia menacingly. Chinaglia predictably defended himself, helped by captain Wilson, and apparently the two Neapolitans came out the worse for wear in the scuffle. The Napoli captain Juliano then managed to bring some order back but the visitors shuffled off insulting and threatening the Lazio players. Apparently, some of the "nicest" shouts were, "in the return game in Naples we are going to break your legs"... In the end they would not break their legs but their hearts.
For now, Lazio kept up with the front-runners who had all won, only Fiorentina had lost (1-2 to Inter at home) and dropped back. Juventus and Milan 22, Lazio and Inter 21, Fiorentina 17.
Meanwhile Napoli were joint 11th, on 12 points with Verona. The Azzurri were only one point above the drop zone (Palermo, Ternana and Sampdoria on 11). Maybe this could explain their reaction in Rome today rather than an improbable offside in the 87th minute with the score already on 2-0.
Who played for Lazio
Pulici, Facco, Martini, Wilson, Oddi, Nanni, Garlaschelli, Re Cecconi, Chinaglia, Frustalupi, Manservisi
Manager: Maestrelli
Who played for Napoli
Carmignani, Di Gennaro, Rimbano, Jurlini, Vavassori, Esposito, Damiani, Juliano, Abbondanza, Improta, Mariani
Substitutes: Nardin, Fontana
Manager: Chiappella
Referee: Gonella
Goals: 50' Manservisi, 69' Nanni, 87' Chinaglia
What happened next
In the next 14 games Lazio kept up their title challenge. The Biancocelesti won 9 (including derby 2-0 and Milan 2-1 at home), drew 3 and lost 1 (Juventus 0-1 away).
This meant that going into the last fixture the table read; Milan 44, Lazio and Juventus 43. Milan were soon 0-4 down at Verona (Milan had played Cup Winners Cup final midweek) and at halftime Lazio were drawing 0-0 in Naples and Juventus losing 0-1 to Roma, in Rome. A playoff between Lazio and Milan was on the cards. Then unfortunately, almost surely thanks to "financial incentives" and personal interests, Roma stopped playing and lost while Napoli, remembering the away game's incidents and also apparently paid off by the "Old Lady", played the game of their lives, scored in the 89th minute and acted as if they had won the World Cup. Milan lost 3-5 in the end in "fatal Verona".
A pity for Lazio but they had played great football and had an excellent season but ended up 3rd. They also won both derbies (1-0, 2-0). The top scorer was Giorgio Chinaglia with 11 goals (10 in A). The following year would be different but that's another story.
Napoli finished 9th, on 28 points. In the next 15 games they won 4 (including the last game against Lazio), drew 8 (including Juventus 0-0 away) and lost 3. The top scorer was Oscar Damiani with 6 league goals.
In the Coppa Italia they were eliminated in the 2nd round after 1 win (Cagliari 1-0 at home), 2 draws (Cagliari and Atalanta both 1-1 away) and 3 defeats (Atalanta and Milan both 0-2 at home and Milan also 0-2 away).
With Juventus champions for the 15th time, the other verdicts were Atalanta, Palermo and Ternana down to Serie B while the Coppa Italia was won by Milan (Juventus on penalties).
Let’s talk about Pierpaolo Manservisi
Pierpaolo Manservisi was born in Castello d'Argile (Bologna), on August 4, 1944.
As a player he was formed in the Fiorentina youth sector. He then made his first team squad debut on May 31, 1964 in a home game against Bari. That would remain his one and only game for the "Viola" under Giuseppe Chiappella.
In 1964 he moved west to another Tuscan town and joined Lucchese in Serie C. Under Leo Zavatti he played 34 league games with 8 goals. The "Pantere" finished 13th.
In 1965 he stayed in Tuscany but moved to the coast and joined Livorno in Serie B. Under Carlo Parola (Juventus legend but also former Lazio), the "Labronici” had a decent season and finished 7th.
In 1966 he joined Livorno's main rivals and joined fellow Tuscans Pisa in Serie B. In his first year the Nerazzurri came 12th and Manservisi played 23 games with 3 goals.
In 1967-68, under Renato Lucci, the Pisani won promotion to Serie A. Manservisi played 38 games and scored 11 goals.
The following year, in Serie A, Pisa struggled and with 15th place were relegated. Manservisi played 29 games with 3 goals (Verona, Vicenza, Verona again).
In 1969 he finally made it out of Tuscany and went south to Napoli in Serie A. There he found the manager who had given him his debut, Giuseppe Chiappella. The "Partenopei" had a satisfactory season and finished 6th. Manservisi played 24 league games with 3 goals (Torino, Milan, Lazio), 3 games in Coppa Italia and 6 games in the Fairs Cup with 1 goal (Ajax).
In 1970 he joined Lazio, in a deal that saw Gian Pero Ghio go the other way. The Romans had Juan Carlos Lorenzo as manager until May 30, when Bob Lovati took over. Lazio were relegated but as a small consolation won the Anglo-Italian Cup. Manservisi played 10 league games plus 3 in Coppa Italia. He scored the opening goal in Lazio’s 3-1 win in Basel to lift the Alps Cup.
In the summer of 1971 he returned to Napoli on loan while Alessandro Abbondanza came to Lazio. Chiappella was still there and they finished 8th. The "Azzurri" were also losing finalists in the Coppa Italia (Milan 0-2). Manservisi played 19 league games with 3 goals (Samp, Vicenza, Cagliari) plus 6 games in Coppa Italia.
In 1972-73 he returned to Lazio, who in the meantime under Tommaso Maestrelli were back in Serie A. Lazio had an excellent season and went close to winning the title, eventually coming third (it all went down to the last game of the season). Manservisi played 28 league games with 1 goal (Napoli) plus 1 game in Coppa Italia. So, a good season for Manservisi and Lazio, who also won both derbies (2-1, 2-0).
The following year was even better for Lazio. The Biancocelesti won the Scudetto with the crazy gang of 1974. Manservisi however played less, 4 league games, due to the blossoming of young Vincenzo D'Amico. A triumphant year for Lazio who again also won both derbies (both 2-1).
In the 1974-75 season Manservisi left Lazio and joined Mantova in Serie C. He stayed two years with the "Virgiliani" who finished 11th and 6th. He played 57 league games with 4 goals.
He then had a couple of years in Serie D with U.S San Felice, near Modena and then went back to his roots as player manager with Libertas Argile (near Bologna) at regional amateur level.
Manservisi was a slim and agile player. He was nicknamed "Uccellino" (Little Bird) for his physique. He was a very tactically astute and versatile player and could play in several roles. He played mainly on the left wing but could carry out both defensive and attacking tasks.
At Lazio he played 42 games with 2 goals. He will forever be part of Lazio's first historic Scudetto squad. In a recent interview he said "that team was a real madhouse but we were by far the best team", he also stated "it's something I can't explain but even if you only pull on the Lazio jersey once, you become Laziale forever".
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup | Fairs Cup | Anglo Italian Cup | Cup of the Alps |
1970-71 | 20 (3) | 10 | - | 3 | - | 2 | | 5 (3) |
1971-72 | 6 (1) | - | 2 | 4 (1) | - | - | | |
1972-73 | 31 (1) | 28 (1) | - | 1 | - | - | 2 | |
1973-74 | 13 | 4 | - | 7 | 2 | - | | |
Total | 70 (5) | 42 (1) | 2 | 15 (1) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 (3) |
Sources
Comments