May 23, 1965: Mantova- Lazio 1-3
- Lazio Stories
- May 23
- 6 min read
Lazio almost safe
A Renna penalty and D'Amato brace mean the Biancocelesti are extremely close to survival
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season had been pretty decent and Lazio had finished 8th. The highlight was beating Juventus 3-0 away while both derbies were draws. The manager was Juan Carlos Lorenzo and top scorers were Mario Maraschi and Juan Carlos Morrone with 5 league goals.
This season the manager was Umberto Mannocci. The main new signings were: keeper Roberto Gori (Biellese), defenders Piero Dotti (Messina) and Gianpiero Vitali (Triestina), midfielders Eugenio Fascetti (Messina), Can Bartu (Fiorentina), Kurt Christensen (Atalanta) plus forwards Gianfranco Petris (Fiorentina), Giampaolo Piaceri (Genoa) and Antonio Renna (Bologna).
Leaving were defender Gianfranco Garbuglia (Messina), midfielders Egidio Fumagalli (Frosinone), Massimo Giacomini (Genoa), Graziano Landoni (Atalanta), Bruno Mazzia (Juventus-end of loan) plus forwards Mario Maraschi (Bologna), Juan Carlos Morrone (Fiorentina) and Orlando Rozzoni (Catania - on loan). Several good players were saying goodbye.
This season so far Lazio had played 31 games, winning 7 (including Mantova 2-0) drawing 12 (including both derbies and Juventus away) and losing 12. The Biancocelesti were in joint 14th place with Sampdoria on 26 points, only one above the last relegation slot (Genoa on 25). Lazio however came from two consecutive wins (Foggia and Sampdoria both at home) so were on a high.
The Biancocelesti were already out of the Coppa Italia. They beat Trani 3-0 away but then drew 0-0 at home to Napoli and lost the toss of the coin (this was before penalties).
Mantova had finished 13th the previous under manager Luigi Bonizzoni. The Biancorossi had lost 0-2 away to Lazio and drawn 0-0 at home. Top scorer was Italo Mazzero with 7 league goals.
This season the manager was first Argentine Oscar Montez (1-5), then Giovanni Bonanno (6-7) and now Giacomo Mari. The main new signings were: defenders Piero Scesa (Torino), Giulio Corsini (Roma), midfielders Franco Zaglio (Inter), Claudio Correnti (Reggiana), Luigi Bartolomei (Cremonese - back from loan) plus forwards Gianfranco Trombini (Torino), Beniamino Di Giacomo (Inter), Nicola Ciccolo (Inter) and Marcelo Pagani (Messina).
Leaving were: defenders Karl-Heinz Schnellinger (Roma), Giuseppe Corradi (Ivrea), midfielders Gustavo Giagnoni (Reggiana, after 200 league games but he would be back a year later), Gigi Simoni (Torino) plus forwards Bruno Nicolè (Roma) and Ettore Recagni (Reggiana). So quite a few changes for the Lombards.
Things had gone badly in Serie A and Mantova were already relegated. They were joint bottom with Foggia on 19 points. They had won 6 (including Juventus 1-0 at home), drawn 7 and lost 18.
In Coppa Italia the Virgiliani had gone straight out in early September, losing 0-2 at Brescia.
A game today that Lazio had to win against a demoralised and already relegated side. If Lazio wanted to avoid accompanying the Biancorossi down they had to get a point, preferably two.
The match: Sunday, May 23, 1965, Stadio Danilo Martelli, Mantua
A light mist surrounded the small Martelli ground which had about 5,000 spectators present. About 100 were Lazio fans who had come from Rome and Milan.
Lazio were without suspended defender Piero Dotti who was replaced by Giampiero Vitali and Vincenzo Gasperi played as sweeper while in midfield Alberto Mari was back.
Mantova were missing injured midfielder Sergio who was substituted by Beniamino Cancian. The Virgiliani had a few future Lazio connections on the field, a young keeper Dino Zoff (Lazio manager in the early 90's and president), Giulio Corsini (Lazio manager 1975-76 until Maestrelli returned) and forward Nicola Ciccolo (1965-66).
Lazio soon took the lead in Lombardy. In the 5th minute Can Bartu crossed and it was handballed by Cancian. The hosts protested but the referee had no doubts and Antonio Renna then sent Zoff the wrong way. Mantova 0 Lazio 1.
The Biancorossi reacted to the setback and started to attack. Idilio Cei just anticipated Beniamino Di Giacomo, then Vitali blocked Ciccolo at the last moment and a few minutes later Giorgio Bernardis had a goal disallowed for offside.
Lazio responded in the 29th minute when Bartu struck a good shot which shaved the post.
Towards the end of the half Mantova pushed forward again but Gasperi was excellent in preventing potential goal scoring attempts by Ugo Tomeazzi and Ciccolo. Half time Mantova 0 Lazio 1.
Lazio in front but it was far from straight forward.
In the second half however, Lazio doubled their lead almost immediately. Bartu took a freekick which was picked up by young Vito D'Amato who weaved past Luigi Bartolomei and Cancian and blasted a left foot into the back of the net for his first Serie A goal. Mantova 0 Lazio 2.
Mantova tried to get back into the game and had attempts with Ciccolo, Volpi and Tomeazzi but they did not worry Cei.
In the 69th minute it was Lazio who scored again and practically closed the contest. It was a brilliant goal too, D'Amato skipped past three defenders, Bartolomei, Cancian and Piero Scesa and put a superb shot over and past Zoff to make it 3-0 to the Biancocelesti.
Mantova managed to pull one back eight minutes later. The move started with a suspect handball by Bernardis but it was then finished off by Swedish midfielder Torbjörn Jonsson.
Lazio then controlled the game in the last ten minutes and succeeded in bringing home an important win. The Biancocelesti celebrated at the final whistle and even more so in the changing rooms as the two points were probably a decisive step towards survival.
With two games to go Lazio had a three-point cushion on the last relegation slot as Genoa had lost 1-2 in Cagliari. The table read Atalanta 28, Lazio 28, Vicenza 28, Sampdoria 27, Genoa 25, Messina 20, Mantova 19.
Next up were Lazio v Atalanta and Genoa v Milan. As things usually went, in both teams interest, the game in Rome would most likely be a draw while Genoa played the Rossoneri who were still challenging Inter for the Scudetto (Inter 51, Milan 50). It was not over but Lazio had reasons to celebrate today's win.
Who played for Mantova
Manager: Mari
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Mannocci
Referee: Righetti
Goals: 5' Renna (pen), 46' D'Amato, 69' D'Amato, 77' Jonsson
What happened next
Lazio finished joint 14th with Sampdoria, on 29 points just one above the drop zone. In the next match they drew 0-0 at home to Atalanta (as did Genoa with Milan) and so were safe. In the last match they then lost 0-4 at Messina. Top scorers were Nello Governato and Antonio Renna with 5 goals each (Lazio only scored 25 all season).
Mantova finished 18th and bottom on 21 points. In the last two matches the Lombards lost 0-2 away to Fiorentina and then beat Varese 3-1 at home. Top scorer was future Lazio, Nicola Ciccolo with 9 league goals. Mantova would come straight up again the following year.
Serie A was won by Inter for their 9th Scudetto. Mantova went down with Messina and Genoa.
Let’s talk about Vito D’Amato
Vito D’Amato was born in Gallipoli (Lecce), on July 27, 1944. His family soon moved to Rome due to the fact that his father got a job as a janitor. He joined Lazio as a kid and went through all the Biancoceleste youth teams and debuted in Serie A on December 20 1964, in Genoa against Sampdoria. That season he made 16 appearances and scored 3 goals.
He became a regular and a fan favourite thanks to the goal against Roma which gave Lazio victory on October 10, 1965. He scored a spectacular goal the next season against Inter. He must have impressed the Nerazzurri because in 1967 they signed him. Lazio desperately needed money, and had been relegated, so they could not ignore the offer. D’Amato was also part of the 40 pre-selected for the 1966 World Cup in the UK.
At Inter he did not play much, only 13 appearances and one goal, and in 1968 he returned to Rome but on the wrong side of the Tiber. He played a year for the Giallorossi winning a Coppa Italia. In 1969 he moved to Cesena in Serie B but in November was sold to Verona in Serie A where he stayed two seasons.
His last two years of high-level football he spent with Catania in Serie B. He then signed for Ocres Moca, an amateur team based in Guidonia Montecelio just outside Rome where he played from 1974 to 1977 and then became their manager. In 1997-98 he was head coach of the Lazio Women’s team.
It was a pity D’Amato did not fulfil his potential. He was a great player but never quite made it. He made 87 appearances for Lazio (79 in Serie A, 5 in Coppa Italia and 3 in the Mitropa Cup) with 15 goals (13 in Serie A, and one each in Coppa Italia and Mitropa Cup).
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup |
1963-64 | 1 | - | 1 | - |
1964-65 | 16 (2) | 16 (2) | - | - |
1965-66 | 34 (7) | 31 (7) | 3 | - |
1966-67 | 37 (5) | 32 (3) | 2 (1) | 3 (1) |
Total | 88 (14) | 79 (12) | 6 (1) | 3 (1) |
Sources
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