A fair point on debut

Dag Jenkins

Sep 11, 2022

2 min read

Season 1949-50

Game 1, Serie A

Sunday, September 11, 1949

Stadio di Porta Elisa, Lucca

Lucchese-Lazio 2-2

Despite showing superiority in the second half Lazio have to settle for a point in Lucca

Source Il Calcio Illustrato on Lazio WIki

Today was the Serie A opener at Lucca.

A difficult debut for Lazio but Lucchese had made massive changes to the squad so this was a very different team from the one which had done well in 1948-49.

The match

A hot and sunny day in the beautiful walled town of Lucca brought about 5,000 spectators to the small Porta Elisa ground. A consistent number had come up from Rome.

Lazio were without defender Romolo Alzani while Lucchese were missing midfielder Ferruccio Valcareggi.

The first half was extremely balanced.

Lazio took the lead in the 36th minute when Enrique Flamini finished off a good move by Norberto Höfling and Aldo Puccinelli, 0-1

Lucchese levelled three minutes later as Bruno Mazza latched onto a Luigi Rossellini free kick and his header beat Lucidio Sentimenti, 1-1.

Both keepers made some good saves and at the break the teams were even, a fair scoreline.

In the second half however Lazio dominated.

In the 49th minute Höfling hit the crossbar with the keeper beaten.

Lazio were constantly on the attack but in the 63rd minute, against the run of play, the Rossoneri scored. It was Mazza again who punished Lazio to put the Tuscans in front, 2-1.

Lazio continued to push and less than ten minutes later equalised with Serafino Montanari following a defensive hesitation by the hosts, 2-2.

A minute later both Mario Magrini and Gyula Toth were sent off for mutual pushing and shoving.

Lucchese's defence continued to look doddery but Lazio were unable to take advantage and the game ended with a point each.

A fair result although Lazio had been in control in the second half and, with a bit more lucidity and precision in front of goal, could have taken the two points. An away draw on their debut however was a decent result.

The best players for Lazio were Francesco Antonazzi, Zeffiro Furiassi and Leandro Remondini while for the Tuscans, Carlo Scarpato and Menotti Avanzolini had played very well.