May 2, 1973: Lazio Luton Town 2-2, Anglo Italian Cup
- Simon Basten
- May 2
- 5 min read
Good training match
Lazio draw with Luton Town in the Anglo Italian Cup, but nobody was too bothered about the result
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio managed to secure promotion to Serie A under new manager Tommaso Maestrelli.
The objective for this season was to not be relegated again and to live a comfortable year, without too many problems. In the summer transfer window, a few new players had arrived and some had left. The most important of the latter was the sale of Giuseppe Massa to Inter in exchange for Mario Frustalupi, Massimo Silva and cash. With the money, President Umberto Lenzini bought goalkeeper Felice Pulici (Novara), midfielder Luciano Re Cecconi (Foggia) and forward Renzo Garlaschelli (Como) plus defender Sergio Petrelli in a rare deal with Roma. Leaving Lazio were Claudio Bandoni (Catanzaro), Rosario Di Vincenzo and Giuseppe Papadopulo (both to Brindisi), Arrigo Dolso (Alessandria) and Giuliano Fortunato (Lecce). Rino Gritti and Alessandro Abbondanza had finished their year loans and went back to Lecco and Napoli respectively. In the autumn window forward Giacomo La Rosa arrived from Varese and Gaetano Legnaro and Silva were sold to Ascoli.
The Biancocelesti started badly in Coppa Italia losing three games out of four and were eliminated. But in Serie A it was another story. There were just three games left in Serie A and Lazio were second, one point behind Milan and one in front of Juventus. The impossible looked possible, but before the next Serie A game the Biancocelesti had to play their final match in the Anglo Italian Cup.
The tournament involved 8 English teams (Crystal Palace, Hull City, Luton Town, Manchester United, Blackpool, Fulham, Newcastle United and Oxford United) and 8 Italian (Bari, Fiorentina, Verona, Bologna, Como, Roma and Torino as well as Lazio) divided into two groups. Clubs of the same nation did not face each other and the two top teams for each group played a semi-final and the winners the final.
The Biancocelesti had so far played three games losing away to Hull City and Crystal Palace and drawing at home to Man United. Today was the last game against Luton. There was still a chance to reach the semi-final but nobody really cared much since Lazio were still on course to become Serie A champions.
The match: Wednesday, May 2, 1973, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The only first eleven player used by Tommaso Maestrelli was Giorgio Chinaglia, otherwise Lazio was full of B team and primavera players plus three who had arrived on loan specifically for the competition: Luciano Masiello and Renzo Di Carlo from Almas plus Mauro Rufo from Cassino. Maestrelli was able to test them to see if they could be eventually signed during the summer transfer window.
Luton Town, English second division club, dominated the first half but Lazio were unlucky in the 45th minute when Masiello hit the crossbar and on the rebound Chinaglia sent the ball wide.
The second half was more eventful and the Biancocelesti scored in the 50th minute with a Chinaglia missile on a free kick. Luton equalised eight minutes later with a Peter Anderson header off an Alan Slough freekick. In the 67th minute Lazio again went ahead. Chinaglia passed to Giacomo La Rosa, his shot was parried by the keeper but Francesco Cinquepalmi volleyed the ball into the net. Long John had a chance to close the match but the English made it 2-2 with John Ryan in the 75th minute after three shots had been walled by the Lazio defence, but not the fourth.
An enjoyable game, Maestrelli could now concentrate on the league.
Who played for Lazio
Moriggi, Tinaburri, Petrelli, Lilla, Sambucco, Rufo, La Rosa, Moschino (46’ Di Carlo), Chinaglia, Mazzola II, Masiello (60’ Cinquepalmi)
Substitutes: Avagliano, Trobiani
Manager: Maestrelli
Who played for Luton Town
Horn, Price, Thomson, Slough, Faulkner, Goodeve (75' Garner), Jim Ryan, John Ryan, Anderson, Hindson, Moore
Substitutes: Keit, French, Fern
Manager: Haslam
Referee: Tinkler (UK)
Goals: 50’ Chinaglia, 59’ Anderson, 67’ Cinquepalmi, 75’ Ryan
What happened next
Lazio drew the next Serie A game at Bologna but Milan too only collected a point whereas Juventus won at Bergamo. Two games left, Milan on 42, Lazio and Juventus on 41.
In the penultimate match all three teams won, so the situation was Milan 44 points, Juventus and Lazio 43.
The final three games were Verona-Milan, Napoli-Lazio and Roma Juventus. At the end of the first half the results were Verona-Milan 3-1, Roma-Juventus 1-0, Napoli-Lazio still goalless. As a consequence, the table read Milan and Lazio 44, Juventus 43. But everything changed in the second half as Juve overcame the deficit and won while Lazio lost in the final minutes of the game. Juventus won the scudetto.
A big blow for the club. The scudetto was there for the taking, but probably the inexperience of fighting at such high levels and the excessive eagerness of Napoli and Roma to appease the Bianconeri meant that it was not to be.
Giorgio Chinaglia had the most appearances this season (37) as well as the most goals (13).
Let's talk about Francesco Cinquepalmi
Francesco Cinquepalmi was born in Rome on January 17, 1949. A product of the Lazio youth sector, in 1968-69 he was loaned to Grosseto in Serie D where he made 11 appearances. Back at Lazio the following season, he played a handful of games with the reserves team. In 1970 he was loaned to Romulea (27 appearances with 7 goals in Serie D) and the following season to Termoli coached by Franco Carradori, former Lazio great, where he played 25 games with 7 goals.
In 1972-73 he was back in Rome and part of the roster for Serie A. Since just two players were allowed on the bench and one of which was a keeper, there was obviously not that much space to shine, but he did play two games in the Anglo Italian Cup, even scoring a goal in the last game against Luton Town. He also played a few games in the US and Canada tour at the end of the season. He was an agile forward who often scored in the mid-week friendlies hence the nickname “Wednesday bomber”.
In the summer of 1973 he was sold to Brescia in Serie B but made just 6 appearances. He then went on to play in lower tiers with Almas, LVPA Frascati and Rocca di Papa.
Cinquepalmi was present in Lazio's victorious match against Toronto Metros Croatia on June 7, 1973, one of only three games the Biancocelesti have ever played in Canada.
Lazio Career
Season | Anglo Italian Cup Appearances (goals) |
1972-73 | 2 (1) |
Sources
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