The Sun after the Storm
Round of 64, Second Leg, UEFA Cup
Tuesday, September 27, 1994
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio Dinamo Minsk 4-1
Lazio fall behind early on and face elimination for over an hour but finally come through as clear winners
Today was the return leg of the UEFA Cup round of 64. In the away game Lazio had drawn 0-0 away at Dinamo Minsk.
Dinamo Minsk were Belarus champions. Their manager was Ivan Shchekin. In their history "Dinamo" had won a Soviet league title (1982), 3 Belarus league titles (1992, 1993 and 1994) and 2 Belarus Cups (1992, 1994). In the 1983-84 European Cup, representing the Soviet Union, they had reached the quarterfinals.
Lazio were strong favourites this evening. In Minsk, Lazio had been clearly superior but wasteful, although the Belarusians had a few chances too.
The match
A crowd of 35,000 turned up at the Olimpico for Lazio's home European debut.
The Biancocelesti were as usual without injured Paul Gascoigne but otherwise had the whole squad available.
The visitors made two changes from the first leg. In came Sergei Shtanyuk and Aleksandar Lukhvich and out went Sergey Baranovsky and Oleg Putilo.
Lazio's start was hellish. In the 7th minute Paolo Negro was naively dispossessed on the left by Antuan Mayorov who squared to Pyotr Kachuro and it was 0-1. An incubus, now Lazio needed two unanswered goals to qualify.
What followed was an attack against defence exercise for the whole first half. The Belarusians set up fort in their own half and defended by fair or foul means.
Lazio stubbornly tried to penetrate through the middle and thus helped the visitors' destructive tactics. Lazio had two penalty appeals, the first on Roberto Rambaudi and the second on Beppe Signori but the Spanish referee was not swayed.
The fans were getting fractious and Negro and Beppe Favalli in particular were the targets of their dissatisfaction.
The crowd however got behind Lazio and just before halftime the visitors' wall cracked under pressure with friendly fire. Roberto Cravero pushed forward and sent Alen Boksic down the left wing, the Croat crossed low and Andrey Ostrovsky, worried about the incoming Rambaudi, bundled the ball into his own net, 1-1. The perfect moment to score the equaliser. If the first half had been an all out attack the second was likely to be a siege.
The Belarusians made one change during the break and it was a defensive one as they took off forward Evgeniy Kashentsev and brought on midfielder Eduard Demenkovets.
Lazio predictably attacked in numbers and the chances abounded. Negro almost redeemed himself but his header hit the post while Roberto Di Matteo and Boksic seemed to be in a competition to see who could miss more chances.
Lazio's efforts were rewarded in the 62nd minute. Aron Winter on the left passed to Favalli who surprised the keeper by shooting when a cross was expected and the ball went in under the crossbar, 2-1. A liberation for Lazio.
The visitors had been in the trenches for so long that they were now unable to change their game plan. Lazio on the other hand smelt blood and continued to attack.
The tie was definitely clinched in the 74th minute. Favalli was the protagonist again as he put a high lob over the keeper which Boksic finished off with a header 3-1.
"Dinamo" now realised things were degenerating and threw on Oleg Tchernivski in place of defender Ostrovsky.
In the 78th minute Boksic was given a deserved rest and on came Gigi Casiraghi.
The flood gates were now open and in the 84th minute Lazio made it four. Signori and Rambaudi took a short corner and then the ball reached Diego Fuser who blasted in a long range shot, 4-1 and mission accomplished.
Lazio had seen a shock exit on the cards but once they got the breakthrough equaliser things had gone smoothly and the difference in quality become blatant.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Negro, Favalli, Di Matteo, Cravero, Chamot, Rambaudi, Fuser, Boksic (78' Casiraghi), Winter, Signori
Manager: Zeman
Who played for Dinamo Minsk
Varivonchik, Yaskovich, Ostrovsky (75' Tcherniavski), Shtanyuk, Khatskevich, Lukhvich, Zhuravel, Shirokyi, Mayorov, Kashintsev (46' Demenkovets), Kachuro
Manager: Shchekin
Referee: Garcia Aranda Encinar (Spain)
Goals: 9' Kachuro, 45' Ostrovsky (og), 62' Favalli, 74' Boksic, 84' Fuser
Sources
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