July 22, 1923: Lazio Genoa 0-2, National Final
Lazio Dominates but Genoa Holds Firm
The Biancocelesti controlled the match and created numerous chances, but Genoa's experienced defence stood strong to secure the victory despite Lazio's second-half pressure.
The season so far
In the summer Lazio had had to say goodbye to Giuseppe Fioranti and Carlo Maranghi who had been among the pioneers as far as football in Rome was concerned. They were replaced by Ettore Agazzani and Ottavio Regazzoni who were doing their military service in Rome.
The 1922-23 season saw the participation of 56 teams divided into a Northern League and a Southern one.
In the North, the 36 teams were divided into three groups of 12 with the top club moving to the semi-final stage. Pro Vercelli won Group A, Genoa Group B and Padova Group C. These three teams had to face each other in a final group to determine who would play the national final and Genoa came first.
In the South there were four groups: Campania with 5 teams, Lazio with 6, Apulia with 5, Sicily with 3 and then Marche with one team that went directly to the semi-final group.
Savoia and Internaples qualified for Campania, Pro Italia Taranto and Ideale Bari for Apulia, Libertas Palermo for Sicily and Anconitana for Marche.
As far as the Lazio group was concerned it had been a battle between Lazio, Alba and Fortitudo. By battle, we really mean battle, since there were brawls on the pitch, between fans and even referees joined in. Some of the matches had to be suspended and repeated. Lazio won their group by winning 8 games, drawing one and losing one against US Romana. Alba were the other team to qualify for the next phase.
The qualifiers were divided into two groups of four. Lazio were with Ideale Bari, Libertas Palermo and Internaples. The Biancocelesti won all of their games and went on to play the Southern League Final against Savoia. The drew 3-3 away and won 4-1 at home.
In the first leg of the national final Lazio had lost 4-1. Genoa were too strong and were given a hand with two dubious penalties. Today was the return match. There was no chance Lazio could overturn the result but at least prove that they were of good level.
The match: Sunday, July 22, 1923, Campo della Rondinella, Rome
Lazio dominated the match, with Ettore Agazzani proving unbeatable during the rare chances created by Genoa. The Biancocelesti goalkeeper's only mistake led directly to Genoa's opening goal. A shot from more than 30 metres by Aristodemo Santamaria slipped through the goalkeeper's hands and slowly rolled into the net.
Lazio immediately responded. A shot from Pio Maneschi and a header from Fulvio Bernardini narrowly missed the posts of the goal defended by Giovanni De Prà, while in the 37th minute a dangerous effort from Bernardini was thwarted by an excellent save from the Genoa goalkeeper. Shortly afterwards, during a period of sustained Lazio pressure, a scramble inside the Biancocelesti penalty area allowed Edoardo Catto to beat Agazzani from close range.
After the interval, there was only one team on the pitch: Lazio. However, efforts from Aldo Fraschetti, Dante Filippi—twice—and Augusto Faccani all came to nothing. Bernardini again caused chaos in the Genoa penalty area, but the visitors' strong and experienced defence ultimately prevailed. At the final whistle, the crowd warmly applauded both teams as they left the pitch together.
Who played for Lazio
Agazzani, Saraceni I, Dosio, Faccani, Parboni, Orazi I, Fraschetti, Filippi, Bernardini, Maneschi, Saraceni II
Who played for Genoa
De Prà, Bellini, De Vecchi, Barbieri, Burlando, Leale, Neri, Moruzzi, Catto, Santamaria, Bergamino
Referee: Venegoni
Goals: 27’ Santamaria, 38’ Catto
Lazio Jersey 1922-23
For this season Lazio re-proposed the jersey they had been using in the past couple of years. A simple design with a V neck with interwoven laces. To note that the material used was pretty heavy and with the sweat made the shirts even heavier. For this reason a lighter cotton was used for the July games.
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