November 21, 1971: Lazio-Monza 2-0

Dag Jenkins
3 days ago
8 min read

Early and easy

Two goals within the first 15 minutes give Lazio routine win

The season so far

The 1970/71 season had been disastrous for Lazio. There had been ongoing divergences between president Lenzini and manager Juan Carlos Lorenzo over various issues, including market strategies. The Argentine was sacked a few times only to be brought back following protests by a particularly loyal group of fans. The problems on the field and off had resulted in relegation to Serie B with only 4 wins in 30 matches. The initial shock would however later result to be a blessing in disguise.

This year the manager problem had been resolved with the appointment of Tommaso Maestrelli, who had impressed in charge of Foggia.

The new manager had also brought some novelties to the squad. In the summer, Lazio had signed three new players: goalkeeper Claudio Bandoni (Fiorentina) plus defenders Luigi Martini (Livorno) and Giancarlo Oddi (Massese). In the autumn session another three had arrived: midfielder Giambattista Moschino (Verona) plus forwards Alessandro Abbondanza (Napoli) and Carlo Facchin (Almas).

Five players left Lazio in the summer: goalkeeper Michelangelo Sulfaro (Fiorentina-loan), midfielders Nello Governato (Savona), Rino Marchesi (Prato), Ferruccio Mazzola (Fiorentina-loan) and forward Juan Carlos Morrone (Foggia). In November two more midfielders left: Arrigo Dolso (Varese - loan) and Pierpaolo Manservisi (Napoli - loan).

Lazio had made a decent start to the season and were up among the frontrunners for the promotion places. They had won 4, drawn 2 (last two) and lost 2, so had 10 points. Lazio were currently 4th with five other teams. Giorgio Chinaglia had already scored 8 goals (including a hat-trick against Como in 3-1 win). Ternana were top on 12 points followed by Palermo on 11 points.

In the Coppa Italia, in August and September, Lazio had qualified for the second group stage to be played the following May. The Biancocelesti had won 3 (Roma 1-0, Ternana 2-0 at home and Perugia 3-1 away) and drawn 1 (Atalanta 0-0 away).

Monza had finished 15th in Serie B under Gigi Radice the previous season. The top scorer was Emiliano Mondonico with 7 league goals. There were two players with Lazio connections in the squad: defenders Carlo Soldo (1967-69) and Guido Onor (1968-69).

This season the manager was Franco Viviani, as Radice had left for Cesena. The main new signings were: defender Gianfranco Bertoletti (Catanzaro), Franco Livore (Seregno), Gabriele Piampiani (Vicenza) and Paolo Viganò (Roma), midfielder Angelo Quintavalle (Sottomarina), plus forwards Arturo Ballabio (Seregno), Luigi Sanseverino (Pisa) and Giacomo Perego (Treviso).

Leaving the Biancorossi were: goalkeeper Gian Nicola Pinotti (Torino), defenders Giampiero D'Angiulli (Catanzaro), Guido Onor (Livorno) and Carlo Soldo (Pro Vercelli), midfielders Gianni Facchinello (Perugia) and Lino Golin (Milan - end of loan) plus forwards Giampaolo Lanzetti (Brescia) and Emiliano Mondonico (Atalanta).

So far, the Brianzoli had won 2, drawn 4 and lost 2. They were 10th on 7 points (with four other teams).

In the Coppa Italia the Monzesi were already out. They had won 1 (Novara 2-0 at home) and lost 3 (Milan 0-1, Catania 0-2 and Mantova 1-2, all away).

Lazio were favourites today but Monza came from two wins out of their last three games.

The match: Sunday, November 21, 1971, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

An overcast day with fresh northerly winds brought just under 30,000 to the Olimpico.

Lazio were missing defender Luigi Polentes and midfielder Giambattista Moschino but had both Gigi Martini and Giuliano Fortunato back.

Monza were without forwards Angelo Quintavalle and Arturo Ballabio.

Lazio started with confidence and after two early Carlo Facchin chances took the lead. Alessandro Abbondanza crossed from the left and Mario Facco headed down to Giuseppe Massa who pelted a low shot just inside the post, 1-0.

Lazio insisted and five minutes later scored again. Gaetano Legnaro did well on the right and put in a good cross which Giorgio "Long John" Chinaglia headed past Romano Cazzaniga, 2-0.

A perfect start for Lazio who continued to push forward and had several more chances, the biggest with Chinaglia again but his powerful low shot was saved well by the Monza keeper.

Half time came with Lazio two-nil up and in no difficulty at all.

In the second half the visitors finally attacked more but without causing Lazio's defence any particular problems.

In the last fifteen minutes both sides made a change; for Lazio, Franco Nanni came on for Abbondanza while for the Brianzoli, defender Gian Filippo Reali replaced midfielder Fiorino Pepe.

Chinaglia could then have made it three but Cazzaniga pulled off two superb saves in quick succession.

Monza eventually had a goalscoring opportunity in the last minute but Luigi Sanseverino, in front of Claudio Bandoni, hesitated and lost the moment to at least pull a goal back. Final score Lazio 2 Monza 0.

An assured win by Lazio who had scored two early goals and never looked like relinquishing the lead. The team had looked balanced in all areas of the field and had a rampant Chinaglia up front.

Lazio were now top of the table on 12 points albeit with Palermo, Perugia, Taranto and Ternana (Ternana had lost 0-2 to Taranto and Palermo drawn 0-0 at Livorno).

Who played for Lazio

Bandoni, Facco, Legnaro, Wilson, Papadopulo, Martini, Massa, Fortunato, Chinaglia, Abbondanza (74' Nanni), Facchin

Substitutes: Di Vincenzo

Manager: Maestrelli

Who played for Monza

Cazzaniga, Lievore, Viganò, Fontana, Trebbi, Caremi, Sanseverino, Bertogna, Perego, Dehò, Pepe (79' Reali)

Substitutes: Evangelista

Manager: Viviani

Referee: Frasso

Goals: 6' Massa, 11' Chinaglia

What happened next

Lazio would be successful in their promotion chase. They came in second on 49 points, one behind champions Ternana. On June the 18th, with a 0-0 away draw against Bari, Maestrelli's boys clinched their ticket back to Serie A.

A week after today's win Lazio would lose 0-1 away at Reggiana but then with the help of Chinaglia's 21 and Massa's 12 league goals the Biancocelesti would win 13 games, draw 11 (including Monza 0-0) and lose 4. In the season overall Chinaglia got a total of 26 goals and Massa 13 (plus several assists for Long John).

In the Coppa Italia in May and June, which coincided with the promotion rush, Lazio then won 2 (Fiorentina 1-0 and Napoli 3-0 at home), drew 1 (Fiorentina 1-1 away) and lost 3 (Bologna home and away 0-1, 1-2 and Napoli 1-5 away) and were eliminated.

The main thing was to return to the top flight. Lazio were back. A good season with promotion and the satisfaction of knocking Roma out in the Coppa Italia (1-0).

Monza had a difficult season and ended up 17th, only two points above the last relegation slot. In the remaining games they only won 4, drew 12 and lost 13. The top scorer was Ballabio with 6 league goals.

Lazio went up with Ternana and Palermo while Modena, Sorrento and Livorno went down to Serie C (Sorrento have never made it back since).

Let's talk about Giuseppe Massa

Giuseppe Massa was born in Naples, on April 26, 1948.

He started playing football with Flegrea, a small local Neapolitan club, but his first real professional experience was with Internapoli, the second team in Naples, in the 4th division in 1965/66. He became known as "Peppiniello". Here he met and played alongside Pino Wilson who would later be his captain at Lazio.

In 1966 he joined Lazio and after one year in the youth team he was moved up to the first team squad by Roberto Lovati. He made his debut on March 3, 1968, against Catania in Serie B. He made 13 league appearances in his first year and scored 3 goals.

The following year, again in Serie B, he played 30 league games with 6 goals helping Lazio back to Serie A.

In 1969/70 in the top flight he played 27 times with 5 goals while in 1970/71 he played 29 games with another 5 goals but could not avoid Lazio's relegation.

His most prolific year was 1971/72 when he scored 12 league goals in 38 appearances and Lazio were promoted back to Serie A with Maestrelli.

He had a good spell at Lazio in his six years playing 137 league games with 37 goals. Maybe a little unfairly, Massa will be remembered just as much for his transfer to Inter in the summer of 1972 as for his Lazio goals. This was not merely because he was sold to Inter but more importantly for who came to Lazio in the opposite direction. The deal was Massa to Inter in exchange of Massimo Silva and Mario Frustalupi plus 300 million Lire (approx 150,000 Euros). The latter, Frustalupi "The Wolf Thrasher", would prove fundamental to Lazio's scudetto glory in 1973/74. So, as well as Massa had served Lazio, his departure turned out to be for the best. Frustalupi was exactly the playmaker Lazio were looking for and joined all the pieces of the puzzle into that perfect fit, the "Banda Maestrelli".

At Inter Massa played two seasons, totalling 43 Serie A games with 4 goals.

In 1974/75 he returned to his hometown to play for Napoli. He stayed four seasons playing 102 league games and scoring 24 goals. He won the Coppa Italia with Napoli in 1975/76. In the same season he scored the winner against Lazio (1-0) and a goal in a 2-1 win over Roma. In 1976/77 he again scored a winner against Roma (1-0).

In 1978 he left Napoli but not the region of Campania. He went up the road and joined Avellino in Serie A. He stayed three seasons playing 65 league games and scored 10 goals (including the equaliser in an epic 3-3 draw against Juve). Avellino did well in those years and were a regular feature in Serie A arriving 10th, 12th and 10th in Massa's stint in Irpinia.

In 1981 he moved down two divisions to play for Campania in C1. Here he played another three seasons for a total of 45 games and 3 goals. He then retired in 1983 at 35 years old.

Massa had an excellent club career playing 417 games and scoring 76 goals.

At International level he earned 4 caps for Italy's Under 23s.

Massa was a diminutive player at 1.68 but he was extremely mobile. He was what you call a traditional number 7 who could play as a right winger in midfield or as a forward. He was particularly quick with excellent dribbling skills. He was skilful with good technique and scored goals as well as setting them up.

At Lazio Massa played for six years so is an important part of their history. He scored 37 goals and helped Chinaglia get countless more. He won two promotions with Lazio and was part of the build up to Maestrelli's scudetto of 1973/74. He served Lazio well and gained eternal gratitude for coming, playing and even leaving…

Giuseppe Massa died on October 17, 2017 in Naples at the age of 69. His daughter Azzurra is also now a top-level football player.

Lazio Career

Season	Total	Serie A	Serie B	Coppa Italia	Mitropa Cup	Fairs Cup	Anglo-Italian Cup	Alps Cup
1967-68	13 (3)	-	13 (3)	-	-	-	-	-
1968-69	33 (7)	-	30 (6)	3 (1)	-	-	-	-
1969-70	40 (6)	27 (5)	-	3	2	-	4	4 (1)
1970-71	38 (6)	29 (5)	-	3 (1)	-	2	-	4
1971-72	44 (13)	-	38 (12)	6 (1)	-	-	-	-
Total	168 (35)	56 (10)	81 (21)	15 (3)	2	2	4	8 (1)