The last point

Simon Basten
May 30, 2024
2 min read

Season 1964-65

Game 33, Serie A

Sunday, May 30, 1965

Stadio Flaminio, Rome

Lazio Atalanta 0-0

Lazio get the final point needed to avoid relegation

In the first 11 matches of the second half of the season, Lazio had won just once, at Varese. They were third from last and would be relegated if the campionato had ended then. But then three consecutive wins against Sampdoria, Foggia and Mantova pushed them up the table. All they needed now was one point to secure safety in today’s game, the penultimate fixture of the 1954-65 season.

The match

Despite the bad weather and continuous rain, a good crowd flocked to the Flaminio. The three consecutive victories, the possibility of celebrating survival with a game to spare and also the low prices that the club had wisely applied meant that the team was welcomed upon its entrance with loud explosions of firecrackers and the frenetic waving of blue and white flags.

The guests started well with a shot by Luciano Magistrelli off target. The Atalanta captain Umberto Colombo got hurt but stayed on the pitch even if he could no longer contribute much. After a dangerous shot by Enrico Nova that whistled just wide of the post, Lazio came forward with Nello Governato who dribbled past Graziano Landoni, entered the box, but lost the right moment to shoot. After half an hour Pierluigi Pizzaballa saved an Antonio Renna shot with his fists, something he did shortly after on a free kick taken by the specialist Giampietro Vitali.

At the start of the second half the first significant save was by Idilio Cei blocking a shot by Bruno Bolchi. Then there were two chances for the Romans. Paolo Carosi shot too high and then Vitali worried Pizzaballa again on a set piece. Atalanta responded with a Bruno Petroni-Magistrelli-Landoni combination that was not finished off well. In the 70th minute Diego Zanetti tried from the medium distance, but Pizzaballa was alert. Pietro Gardoni then saved his goal with a skillful tackle on Vito D'Amato. In the last ten minutes of the game the teams did not threaten each other anymore, contenting themselves with sharing the points. In the locker rooms the radio reported the news of the goalless draw at Marassi between Genoa and Milan and this result, welcomed in an atmosphere of general joy, confirmed the mathematical survival of both Lazio and Atalanta.