May 6, 1973: Bologna Lazio 1-1
- Lazio Stories
- May 6
- 5 min read
Strange manoeuvres
Despite the referee and a money prize promised by the club in case they beat the Biancocelesti, Lazio managed to avoid defeat at Bologna and keep their scudetto dream intact
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. Lazio were second, just one point behind Milan and one point ahead of Juventus with three games to go. The Scudetto was certainly a possibility.
The match: Sunday, May 6, 1973, Stadio Comunale, Bologna
The Emilians already created a danger for Felice Pulici in the very first minute today, with a headed deflection by Beppe Savoldi that went wide. Lazio immediately turned the situation around with a counterattack in the 5th minute by Franco Nanni, then with a shot by Giorgio Chinaglia just off target. Bologna again dangerous in the 15th minute when Pulici mistimed a cross and found himself in no man’s land but Gigi Martini managed to neutralise the Pierino Ghetti shot.
As the minutes passed, Tommaso Maestrelli’s men took control, eventually pinning their opponents in their own half. There was a dangerous move by Martini, then Chinaglia (a first-time cross from Nanni, parried somewhat awkwardly by Amos Adani) missed an easy goal by blasting over the bar. Then came another careless attempt by Renzo Garlaschelli, a head-to-head clash between Chinaglia and Tazio Roversi, and then — preceded by a powerful shot from Roberto Vieri that forced Pulici into a flying save onto the post — Bologna’s goal. A low pass from Giacomo Bulgarelli to Savoldi found the Lazio defence spread too thin; the striker controlled the ball and fired a low left-footed shot, with Pulici screened by a teammate.
At the start of the second half, also driven by the partial score from Turin, Lazio went on the attack and equalised in the 50th minute with a wonderful move. A through ball from the advancing Pino Wilson found Nanni, who exchanged passes with Chinaglia; Long John returned the ball with a backheel into an inviting corridor, followed by a running strike that sent the ball under the crossbar.
Bologna’s response peaked in the 65th minute when Savoldi controlled a long cross from Ivan Gregori between his knees and arms and beat Pulici. However, the referee intervened just a moment before the striker’s shot, calling the irregularity, and in any case the linesman already had his flag raised on the touchline.
The quality of play then declined somewhat, and Bologna’s protests after Savoldi’s disallowed goal — culminating in an open clash between Bulgarelli and Mario Frustalupi — made tempers flare. In the 83rd minute, following an overhead kick by Chinaglia, Adani first cleared the ball awkwardly and then clearly obstructed Garlaschelli, who was trying to control it for a rebound into the net. Undeterred, Lazio kept pressing in attack and nearly scored in the final minute. Vittorio Caporale made a desperate save on a shot by Pierpaolo Manservisi.
Maestrelli was not happy with the referee and showed all his frustration at the end of the match. Nor was he happy with Bologna and found it strange that the club had decided to give the players a money prize in case of victory, just for this game …
Who played for Bologna
Adani, Roversi, Fedele, Caporale, Cresci, Gregori, Ghetti, Vieri R., Savoldi, Bulgarelli, Novellini
Substitutes: Battara, Liguori F.
Manager: Pesaola
Who played for Lazio
Pulici F., Polentes, Martini L., Wilson, Oddi, Nanni, Garlaschelli, Re Cecconi, Chinaglia, Frustalupi, Manservisi
Manager: Maestrelli
Referee: Giunti
Goals: 40’ Savoldi, 50’ Nanni
What happened next
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 Giacomo Bulgarelli
Giacomo Bulgarelli was born in Portonovo di Medicina (Bologna), on October 24, 1940.
In 1955 he joined the Bologna academy and four years later moved up to the first team squad.
He would basically never leave.
He played for Bologna for the following 17 seasons. He played a total of 490 games (392 in A) and scored 56 goals (43 in A). The Rossoblu finished 10th, 5th, 9th, 4th, 4th, 1st, 6th, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 9th, 10th, 5th, 11th, 7th, 8th and 7th. He therefore won the Scudetto in 1963-64 under Fulvio Bernardini (in a playoff against Inter 2-0) and the Coppa Italia twice, in 1969-70 under Edmondo Fabbri and in 1973-74 under Bruno Pesaola. Bologna also won the Mitropa Cup in 1961. His other managers include Alfredo Foni, Federico Allasio, Manlio Scopigno briefly, Luis Carniglia and Cesarino Cervellati.
When he finally finished at Bologna in 1975 he then played a final couple of games in the States with the Hartford Bicentennials.
He then retired at 35.
At international level he earned 29 caps for Italy with 7 goals (Switzerland x2, Brazil, Finland, Denmark, Mexico x2) and was captain twice. He took part in two World Cups (1962 and 1966 with 4 appearances and 2 goals) and won the European Championships in 1968 although he made no appearances. He also took part in the 1960 Rome Olympics where Italy finished 4th.
After retiring he became a sporting director with Modena, Pistoiese, Bologna, Catania and Palermo. In the early 1990s he became a football pundit, working for TMC, Stream, Mediaset and RAI. He also collaborated with the sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Bulgarelli was an attacking midfielder. He was an extremely versatile player who could attack and defend and had a good balance between technique, skill and athleticism. In the last years of his career due to injuries he dropped back and played as 'libero".
Bulgarelli is a legend at Bologna. He refused offers from A.C Milan to stay with Bologna. Every home game he was greeted by the main fan leader who through the megaphone shouted, "Onorevole Giacomino, salute"! He still holds several records; most appearances (490), most Serie A appearances (391) and most capped Bologna player for Italy (29).
Bulgarelli died in Bologna, on February 12, 2009.
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