May 31, 1981: Milan-Lazio 1-1
- Dag Jenkins
- May 31
- 7 min read
The Devil can wait
Lazio take a point at San Siro to postpone Milan's promotion celebrations and boost their own hopes
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had been relegated to Serie B, not on the field but in the Sports Justice Courts. Lazio paid for four of their players' alleged involvement in the Totonero match fixing scandal. Lazio were therefore in Serie B without Bruno Giordano, Lionello Manfredonia, Pino Wilson and Massimo Cacciatori.
The new manager was Ilario Castagner who had done well at Perugia. The Biancocelesti also had several new players to try and bounce straight back up to the top flight. Arriving were goalkeeper Maurizio Moscatelli (Pistoiese), defenders Giorgio Mastropasqua (Bologna), Arcadio Spinozzi (Bologna), midfielders Alberto Bigon (Milan), Giuseppe Greco (Torino), Dario Sanguin (Vicenza) and forward Stefano Chiodi (Milan).
Leaving were defender Mauro Tassotti (Milan), midfielders Vincenzo D'Amico (Torino-luckily he would be back), Antonio Lopez (Palermo), Vincenzo Zucchini (Vicenza) and forward Enrico Todesco (Genoa).
So far Lazio had played 35 league games and won 12, drawn 17 and lost 5. Lazio had started well with 7 wins and 8 draws in the first 15 games. They then played Milan and lost, thus losing confidence and slowing down. Lazio's two previous games had been draws. The Biancocelesti were 3rd on 41 points together with Genoa. The table read Milan 46, Cesena 42, Lazio 41, Genoa 41, Sampdoria 39.
In Coppa Italia, Lazio had qualified for the quarter finals to be played in March. In August-September, in Group 6 Lazio had won 3 (Pescara 2-0 away, Varese 2-1 and Verona 3-0, both at home) and drawn 1 (Ascoli 0-0 away). They won the group and then played Serie A team Bologna home and away in March and lost both games 0-2.
Promotion was more important and today was a very tricky game at San Siro against league leaders Milan.
Milan, like Lazio, had been relegated from Serie A for their involvement in the Calcioscomesse scandal of 1980. They had finished 3rd under Massimo Giacomini but then were sent down. The top scorer was future Lazio, Stefano Chiodi with 11 goals (7 in A).
For this new experience in the second tier of Italian football the Rossoneri had kept Massimini but obviously made some changes to the squad. The main new signings were: goalkeeper Ottorino Piotti (Avellino), defender Mauro Tassotti (Lazio), midfielder Stefano Cuoghi (Modena) and forward Francesco Vincenzi (Monza but from Milan academy).
Leaving were: midfielders Alberto Bigon (Lazio), Fabio Capello (retiring), Giorgio Morini (Pro Patria) and forward Stefano Chiodi (Lazio).
Milan were currently unsurprisingly top of the table. The Rossoneri had player such as Franco Baresi, Aldo Bet, Fulvio Collovati, Aldo Maldera, Sergio Battistini, Ruben Buriani, Walter De Vecchi, Walter Novellino and Francesco Romano, to name a few.
Milan had 37 points after 17 wins (including Lazio 2-0), 12 draws and 5 defeats (but 4 in last 9 games including recent 0-1 home defeat to Pisa).
In the Coppa Italia they too had exited in the first phase, after 1 win (Catania 1-0 at home), 1 draw (Avellino 1-1 away) and 2 defeats (Palermo away and the derby both 0-1).
A big game in Milan today. Milan were almost assured promotion despite their recent struggles and could clinch it mathematically with a win. Lazio had more problems and needed to take something away from the San Siro to postpone the Devils' party.
The match: Sunday, May 31, 1981, Stadio San Siro, Milan
A hot and sunny day attracted 55,000 spectators to San Siro on what could be Milan's promotion celebration day. Lazio however could not afford to be mere bystanders and needed points themselves.
Lazio were missing defender Arcadio Spinozzi while Milan were without midfielder Stefano Cuoghi.
Milan started as if they were determined to get the promotion business over with as soon as possible.
In the 5th minute Walter Novellino back-heeled to defender Fulvio Collovati and the future World Champion hit it low towards goal but it deflected off Paolo Pochesci's shin and went behind for a corner.
A few minutes later Aldo Maldera fired a powerful freekick from about twenty metres but Dario Marigo pulled off a good save tipping it over the bar.
The next chance was for Collovati again but his header from a corner went high.
The goal came in the 16th minute. Collovati headed the ball forward from midfield and sent Ruben Buriani charging down the left where the blond midfielder went past Carlo Perrone and cut a pass back to Novellino who hit it first time and beat Marigo 1-0.
A deserved lead for the Rossoneri but that was their afternoon done with. The hosts practically stopped attacking and let Lazio take the initiative.
The Romans obliged but had difficulty at first to create anything dangerous. Then in the 32nd minute Ottorino Piotti fortuitously saved on Nando Viola and in the 35th saved well on a Giuseppe Greco freekick.
In the 40th minute Lazio thought they had levelled but referee Luigi Agnolin disallowed it. Greco scored on a freekick but the whistle had not been blown so it was all in vain. His repeated attempt then went wide.
Lazio threatened again just before the break but Piotti raced off his line and saved on Dario Sanguin. Half time: Milan 1 Lazio 0.
The Rossoneri had come out firing but once they got the goal had sat back and let Lazio do the bossing.
The second half was no different. The Devil was not as bad as he was made out and allowed the Eagles to attack.
It was not clear if Milan were hoping to have done enough and merely hold on or if they lacked desire or energy.
In the 65th minute the Rossoneri replaced midfielder Sergio Battistini with defender Alberto Minoia and a minute later Lazio changed Stefano Chiodi with Renzo Garlaschelli.
In the 68th minute Lazio's pressure paid off. The fresh legged Scudetto hero played Viola through in the area and the Piedmontese midfielder waited for Piotti to come off his line before switching the ball across to Alberto Bigon who dived forward and headed in, 1-1.
Milan had stopped playing 50 minutes ago and now Lazio decided to imitate them. The less said about the last 20 minutes the better.
Both teams settled for a point and nothing more happened. Final score: Milan 1 Lazio 1.
A decent point for Lazio in the promotion race and a deserved one too.
Whether down to Milan's passive attitude or Lazio's determination did not really matter at this stage.
Lazio were now joint 3rd with Genoa on 42 points. Cesena were 2nd on 44 and Sampdoria 5th on 40. Next up was Lazio vs Cesena, a huge game.
Milan failed to celebrate today but edged closer to promotion. They topped the table on 47 points so, with only three games to go, it was more just when rather than if they would go up.
Who played for Milan
Piotti, Tassotti, Maldera, De Vecchi, Collovati, Baresi, Buriani, Novellino, Antonelli, Battistini (65' Minoia), Romano
Substitutes: Incontri, Vincenzi, Carotti, Monzani
Manager: Giacomini
Who played for Lazio
Marigo, Pighin, Citterio, Perrone, Pochesci, Sanguin, Viola, Bigon, Chiodi (66' Garlaschelli), Mastropasqua, Greco
Manager: Castagner
Referee: Agnolin
Goals: 16' Novellino, 68' Bigon
What happened next
Lazio went very close to promotion but just fell short and finished 4th. A week later Lazio beat Cesena 2-0 at home and things seemed rosy. Then came the June 14 home game against Vicenza. The table read Milan 48, Genoa 44, Cesena 44, Lazio 44 for three places in A.
With the score on 1-1, Lazio were awarded a penalty in the 87th minute. Stefano Chiodi, the specialist who had never missed a penalty, stepped up and... missed obviously, hitting the post. Cesena and Genoa won and a demoralised Lazio then only drew the last away game at Taranto and so came 4th. A huge disappointment. The top scorer was Alberto Bigon with 10 goals (9 in B).
Lazio would remain in B for another two seasons.
A week later Milan drew 2-2 at Rimini and then definitely clinched promotion on June 14 with a 1-0 home win over Monza. They then lost the last non-influential game at Pescara 0-1. The top scorer was Roberto Antonelli with 15 league goals.
Milan were back in Serie A but would immediately be relegated again (this time for negative sporting performances) so in 1982-83 were back in B with Lazio and both were promoted. Milan have never been back in B since.
This season going up were Milan, Genoa and Cesena while at the other end Monza, Taranto, Atalanta and Vicenza descended to Serie C.
Lets talk about Luigi Agnolin
Today we will talk about one of the main referees in 1970s and 80s Italian football.
Luigi Agnolin was born in Bassano del Grappa (Vicenza), on March 21 1943. His father Guido was also a top referee.
Luigi followed his father's footsteps and made his Serie A debut on March 19 1973 in a Fiorentina vs Cagliari game. He went on to officiate 226 games in Serie A between 1973 and 1990.
He also became an international referee in 1978 and in 1986 represented Italy at the World Cup in Mexico where he was in charge of three games including the semi-final between West Germany and France. He was also at Italia '90 but was sent home after one match (Yugoslavia vs Colombia) after a falling out with FIFA boss Joseph Blatter.
In Europe he refereed the 1987 Cup Winners Cup final (Ajax vs Lokomotiv Moscow), the 1988 European Cup final (PSV Eindhoven vs Benfica) and the 1986 UEFA Super Cup return leg final (Dynamo Kiev vs Steaua Bucharest).
In Italy he was the referee for two Coppa Italia finals (1985, 1987). He was also in charge of 7 Juventus-Torino derbies, 5 Milan-Inter, 5 Lazio-Roma and 4 Genoa-Sampdoria plus countless top games and decisive league title clashes.
He retired in 1990.
In 2012 he was included in the Hall of Fame of Italian football.
On retiring he was in charge of picking the referees for the Serie C games between 1990 and 1992. He then resigned over divergences with the Head of the Federation, Antonio Mattarese.
His other jobs post-refereeing include: General Director of Roma, CEO of Verona, President of FIGC School and Youth Sectors, General Director of Perugia and General Director of Siena. He also worked in television reviewing and commenting on the famous "moviola" (basically action replays of controversial episodes).
Outside football he was involved with the "Comunità Villa S.Francesco" hosting youths from problematic families and was also centre-right candidate at the local Bassano del Grappa elections for Senator but was not successful.
He will be best remembered as a referee. An authoritative one who for almost two decades was one of if not the most important and respected Italian referees.
Luigi Agnolin died in Bassano del Grappa, on September 29, 2018.
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