March 10, 1912: Lazio Audace Esperia 5-0

Simon Basten
2 hours ago
3 min read

Lazio way too strong

Another win for the Biancocelesti thanks to a Saraceni hat-trick, Corelli and Gaia IV

The season so far

The Third Category regional leagues took place in 1912. The Italian Football Federation still did not allow teams from the southern league to play for the scudetto (this would start from the next season) so for the moment Lazio had to face Audace Esperia, Juventus Roma, Fortitudo and Alba in the Lazio third category league. The games were played between March and May due to the more favourable weather conditions.

The Biancocelesti had already played two matches, beating Fortitudo 6-0 and Juventus Roma 7-0.

The match: Sunday, March 10, 1912, Parco de Daini, Rome

Lazio defeated Esperia, until now unbeaten, by 5 goals to 0. In truth, if Esperia’s goalkeeper and the nervousness that overcame the players after the first setback had not intervened, they might perhaps have reduced its defeat by 2 or 3 goals. But the Lazio men — it is only fair to acknowledge — displayed truly superior play, thanks to the dominance and reliability of their defence and the effectiveness and frequency of the attacks launched with real skill by the forwards, who today proved themselves worthy of praise.

On the Prato dei Daini field, referee Modena blew the whistle for kick-off at 3:35 p.m. The ball was immediately in Lazio’s possession, and after 10 minutes they secured the first goal from a penalty taken by Fernando Saraceni. The Esperia players began to lose confidence, and when Saraceni scored a second goal in the 15th minute, they already appeared unsettled. Play remained in their half until the end of the period, except for a few rare incursions into Lazio’s half that were promptly repelled.

After the restart it was again Saraceni who scored the third goal, followed shortly by a fourth from Corrado Corelli and a fifth from Arnaldo Gaia IV, sealing Lazio’s overwhelming 5–0 victory, since it was clear that the outcome of the match could no longer change.

Who played for Lazio

Gaslini, Levi II, Giusti, Levi I, Fioranti, Zucchi II, Gaia IV, Corelli I, Consiglio, Saraceni I, Coraggio

Who played for Audace Esperia

Tombesi, Landini, Caroncini, De Nobili, Romani, Galassi II, Fiammazzo, Antinucci, Lagomarsino, Galassi I, Cerchia

Referee: Modena

Goals: 10’ Saraceni I, 15’ Saraceni I, second half Saraceni I, Corelli, Gaia IV

What happened next

Lazio easily won the tournament with 18 points winning all of the games except one. They later went on to win the Easter Cup in April beating Roman 2-0 and the Ancherani Cup beating Pro Roma 11-0.

Six players topped the appearances this year playing every game: Consiglio, Coraggio, Fioranti, Gaia IV, Levi I and Saraceni I who was also top scorer with 21 goals.

Let’s talk about Lorenzo Gaslini

Lorenzo Gaslini was born in Milan on March 2, 1890.

He started playing football with Milan in 1910. His first appearance was in a Juventus Milan 5-3 on January 16 and he played three games that season.

He then went to Rome to do his military service and joined Lazio where he stayed until 1913. He was the keeper that played in the scudetto final against Pro Vercelli in 1913.

In 1914 he went back to Milan and played four games before being called to the battle front in World War I. A sergeant in the grenadiers, he was transferred to the Aviation School where obtained his military pilot’s license for Farman model aircraft. Assigned to the squadron of the same name at the Campoformio airfield, he took part in the bombing of Tolmino in 1917.

Gaslini died in Milan on January 7 1919, due to a pulmonary disease he caught during the war.

He made 22 appearances for Lazio.

Lazio Career

Season	Total Appearances	Lazio 3rd Category League	Roman 3rd Category League	National First Category	Other
1910-11	5	3	-	-	2
1911-12	12	-	10	-	2
1912-13	5	-	-	5	-
Total	22	3	10	5	4