Piola sinks Dea

Dag Jenkins
Jun 7, 2023
3 min read

Season 1941-42

Game 29, Serie A

Sunday, June 7, 1942

Stadio PNF, Rome

Lazio Atalanta 2-1

A Silvio Piola brace keeps Lazio in fourth place

Lazio were currently joint 4th with Genova on 33 points.. The Biancocelesti had won 12 (including Torino 4-1, Bologna 5-1, Triestina 5-0, Juventus 2-1 at home and Inter 1-0 away), drawn 9 (including Milano 2-2 and derby 1-1) and lost 7 (including first derby 1-2). Lazio were unbeaten in the last six matches and the point against high flying Roma two weeks earlier and the recent 5-2 away win at Milano (A.C Milan) confirmed their good state of form.

Atalanta were joint 12th, with Fiorentina on 23 points. They were only two points from the drop, Napoli on 21, while Livorno had 22 and Modena doomed on 19 (for two relegations). So far they had won 8, drawn 7 and lost 13. In their most recent game they had drawn 1-1 at home with Liguria.

Lazio were favourites to win but Atalanta were desperate for points. Today Napoli played 6th placed Juventus at home while Livorno had leaders Roma at home.

The match

Fair weather in north Rome today and just under 10,000 in attendance at the P.N.F stadium.

Lazio played in uncharacteristic red shirts and played without midfielder Salvador Gualtieri.

Atalanta were missing winger Guido Corbelli, midfielder Salvatore Perrucci and forward Giovanni Gaddoni.

Lazio started on the attack but had difficulty creating clear cut chances.

After fifteen minutes Atalanta left full-back Alberto Citterio was forced off injured. The Bergamaschi reshuffled their line-up, placing Ermelindo Bonilauri further back and moving midfielder Paolo Tabanelli into defence.

Citterio then came on again in the 25th minute but was clearly limping and was put out on the right wing with forward Edmondo Fabbri dropping back further too.

Lazio took the lead in the 29th minute. Luciano Ramella fed Silvio Piola in space and the Piedmontese surged forward and placed an unstoppable diagonal shot past Secondo Lanfranco, 1-0.

Lazio pushed forward and in the 45th minute Silvestro Pisa hit a crossbar. Halftime Lazio 1 Atalanta 0.

After the interval Citterio did not reappear so the visitors were down to ten men.

In the first minute of the second half Luciano Peretti missed an opportunity that seemed easier to score than miss after a good Fabbri initiative.

After the scare Lazio took control and with the extra man had more control of the midfield. In the 48th minute Pisa hit another crossbar.

A minute later Pisa had a goal disallowed following a post by Giuseppe Baldo as at least one of the Lazio forwards was in offside.

The second goal came in the 59th minute. A clever pass by Aldo Puccinelli was astutely finished off by Piola, 2-0.

The Lombards were not beaten however and pulled a goal back only two minutes later. In the 61st minute Mario Gritti teed up Mario Pagliano and his low cross goal strike beat Uber Gradella, 2-1.

The visitors' hopes of a comeback took a major blow in the 63rd minute as they lost another man as Fabbri was forced off to be medicated.

Fabbri then came back on in the 71st minute but then definitely hobbled off in the 82nd.

Lazio managed to clinch the win albeit with more difficulty than expected considering the Dea's bad luck with injuries. The Bergamaschi had battled hard and intelligently reorganised their tactical setup following being reduced first to ten men and then to nine.

Lazio however had deserved the win and were still joint 4th with Genova 1893 on 35 points but now four clear of 6th placed Juventus.

Atalanta were now joint 13th, on 23 points with Napoli (Juventus 4-1). Fortunately for the Atalantini the good news was that Livorno had lost 0-2 to Roma so they still had a one-point cushion on the Tuscans going into the last fixture (Atalanta-Ambrosiana Inter, Milano-Livorno and Genova-Napoli)

Who played for Lazio

Gradella, Romagnoli II, Monza II, Fazio, Ramella, Ferri, Baldo, Pisa I, Piola, Flamini, Puccinelli