Lazio hit a six in Sicily

Simon Basten
Jun 16, 2024
3 min read

Season 1956-57

Game 34, Serie A

Sunday, June 16, 1957

Stadio La Favorita, Palermo

Palermo Lazio 2-6

The Biancocelesti massacre Palermo and finish the season third

Lazio were mathematically third, two points behind Fiorentina and nine from Milan. Today was the last game of Serie A.

The match

Palermo, bottom, but still fighting, immediately went on the attack to create problems for the Biancocelesti and to say arrivederci to Serie A with honour. This lasted exactly seven minutes in which Julio Vernazza took a couple of shots which were parried by Bob Lovati and ended after the Palermo forward got the ball at midfield and ran towards the Lazio keeper but then from just a few metres away tried a shot which went miles over the crossbar.

After the scare Lazio got organised and the game finished here for the Rosaneri. In the 10th minute Humberto Tozzi tried a shot, Roberto Forte parried with his fists, Enzo Benedetti headed the ball back to the keeper but Forte was not expecting it and it was 1-0 for the Biancocelesti.

Eight minutes later the Brazilian forward dribbled past three players and gave a good ball to Lorenzo Bettini. His shot was parried by the keeper but Tozzi with a Marcell Jacobs-like sprint got there first and it was 2-0.

Goal number three arrived in the 24th minute when Lovati gave the ball to Bettini who ran forward and once just outside the penalty area let go of a shot which surprised Forte.

The Palermo keeper was miraculous on more than one occasion, stopping opportunities often in desperate circumstances. Lovati too was called into action in the 38th minute on a Piero Betello shot. In the 44th minute Arne Selmosson to Arnaldo Lucentini who again flew towards the Palermo area and made it 4-0.

Palermo tried an unlikely comeback in the second half and in the 47th minute Walter Gomez hit the woodwork. Ten minutes later Betello to Gianni Sandri, ball to Gomez who dribbled past Umberto Pinardi and Franco Carradori and scored. The Rosaneri insisted and Gomez on a Sandri assist was sandwiched by Pinardi and Carradori and the ref gave a generous penalty to the Sicilians. Vernazza halved the deficit.

It looked like Palermo could continue to press the Biancocelesti but it was Lazio who regained control of the match. Tozzi had a goal disallowed for a dubious offside and then missed a sitter in the 74th minute. The Rosaneri were tired and the Brazilian took advantage in the 83rd minute when, on a Lucentini pass, he volleyed a missile that beat Forte. In the 89th minute Renzo Burini got the ball at midfield, ran towards the Palermo goal and closed the game on 6-2.

That was the end of the season for the Biancocelesti, another excellent third place.

Who played for Palermo

Forte, Nobili, Bettoli, Betello, Benedetti, Zamperlini, Vernazza, Biagini, Gomez, Luosi, Sandri

Manager: Kossovel

Who played for Lazio

Lovati, Molino, Lo Buono, Carradori, Pinardi, Moltrasio, Lucentini, Tozzi, Bettini, Burini, Selmosson