Lazio Turn the Tide with Spirited Comeback

Simon Basten
Dec 30, 2023
3 min read

Season 1962-63

Game 15, Serie B

Sunday, December 30, 1962

Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Lazio Cagliari 2-1

Moschino and Morrone lead the Biancocelesti to a brilliant turnaround after an early setback

After just four games Lazio had sacked manager Carlo Facchini and called up Juan Carlos Lorenzo for the first of his three stints with the Biancocelesti. The promotion race was very tight with lots of teams involved. The Biancocelesti were currently 8th, three points from third place. They had just come from a heavy defeat at Messina the previous Sunday.

The match

Angelo Longoni returned to the squad after more than three months out, having convinced in training that he had fully recovered from the serious injury suffered in the Coppa Italia against Fiorentina. Juan Carlos Lorenzo deployed him, somewhat surprisingly, as a right-sided mezzala, while assigning Giambattista Moschino the role of tactical winger.

Cagliari burst out of the blocks. Mario Martiradonna sent in a deep cross that Renato Ronconi diverted toward goal, but Idilio Cei produced a spectacular diving save to keep it out. In the 6th minute Antonino Congiu’s header sailed over the bar. Five minutes later came the opening goal: a mishit effort from former Lazio man Giuseppe Gagliardi ricocheted off Vincenzo Gasperi’s legs and fell kindly for Danilo Torriglia, who slotted home with a simple diagonal finish from close range. A fortunate strike that immediately put the Romans on the back foot.

Sensing his side’s struggles, Lorenzo switched the positions of Longoni and Moschino. The adjustment paid off at once as Lazio began to find rhythm. Longoni fired over in the 14th minute, and Angelo Colombo was twice tested by Giancarlo Morrone soon after. The visiting keeper was then rescued by the post in the 19th minute after another powerful effort from Longoni.

The equaliser arrived just after the half-hour mark. Morrone drew three defenders to the right flank before switching play brilliantly to the opposite side, where Moschino brought the ball under control and beat Colombo with a precise diagonal strike from fifteen metres—his first goal in the Biancoceleste shirt. Two minutes later Lazio completed the turnaround. Moschino released Claudio Bizzarri down the right; his cross found Morrone arriving like a bolt of lightning, and the striker thundered a header into the net.

After the break, Cagliari increased the tempo in search of an equaliser. In the 53rd minute Cei produced a stunning save to deny them: Martiradonna’s cross found Torriglia, whose header was destined for the top corner until the Lazio goalkeeper soared to claw it away. Lazio responded immediately, and on 56 minutes a sweeping team move ended with Orlando Rozzoni unleashing a ferocious drive that crashed against Colombo’s crossbar.

The match remained wide open. In the 59th minute Enrico Mazzucchi lashed a rising shot just over, and moments later Morrone narrowly failed to control a loose ball only metres from goal. The oriundo remained a constant threat, forcing Colombo into another difficult intervention. Gradually the pace faded, both teams having spent enormous energy. Cei—outstanding alongside Gasperi and Morrone—calmly gathered a long-range attempt from Mario Tiddia, the last meaningful action of an entertaining match.

Who played for Lazio

Cei, Zanetti, Garbuglia, Governato, Pagni, Gasperi, Bizzarri. Longoni, Rozzoni, Morrone, Moschino