September 6, 1987: Lazio Casertana 2-0, Coppa Italia

Simon Basten
Sep 6
7 min read

Lazio Win at Flaminio, But Questions Remain Over Performance

Savino scores twice as Lazio beat Casertana 2–0 at the Flaminio but Fascetti’s men still have work to do

Also on this day:

September 6, 1992, Sampdoria Lazio 3-3. Signori presents himself to the Lazio fans with a brace against Sampdoria. He could be better than Ruben Sosa after all.
September 6, 1958, Lazio Marzotto 2-1, Coppa Italia. Lazio beat Serie B Marzotto but not without difficulty and qualify for the Coppa Italia semi-final.

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had managed to avoid relegation to Serie C in a playoff with Campobasso and Taranto. They had been given an unjust 9-point docking, a very heavy burden with only two points for a victory, due to an alleged involvement in match fixing. Lazio did so well at the beginning that by early 1987 they were closer to promotion than relegation. Then the stress took its toll and the team collapsed physically and mentally. Before the last game of the season, Lazio were second from bottom on 31 points together with Taranto, on 32 there were Campobasso, Vicenza, Sambenedettese and Catania, with Modena on 33. With Cagliari already relegated, there were three places left. The last game was Lazio-Vicenza on June 21. With seven minutes to go, it was still 0-0. Gabriele Podavini got the ball and shot. It was more out of desperation than an actual goal scoring attempt. He miskicked it but the ball reached Giuliano Fiorini who turned on himself and scored.

Final verdict: Lazio, Campobasso and Taranto needed a playoff to determine who would join Cagliari, Catania and Vicenza in Serie C. In Naples on June 27 Lazio played their first game against Taranto and lost due to a goal in blatant offside. Then Taranto and Campobasso drew 1-1 on July 1. This meant that Lazio had to beat Campobasso to stay in Serie B. They did thanks to a Fabio Poli goal. The Biancocelesti were safe.

The new Presidency of the Calleri brothers with Renato Bocchi were obviously aiming for a return to Serie A in the 1987-88 season and certainly had this in mind when it came down to the summer transfer window. There was a revolution. Lazio said goodbye to goalkeepers Mario Ielpo and Giuliano Terraneo, defenders Ernesto Calisti and Daniele Filisetti, but in particular to Lazio legends Podavini, Fiorini and Poli. The new signings were experienced goalkeeper Silvano Martina and defender Paolo Beruatto both from Torino, Diego Maradona’s reserve Ciro Muro from Napoli, Gabriele Savino from Vicenza, Paolo Monelli from Fiorentina and Giuseppe Galderisi on loan from Milan. Only a year earlier Galderisi had played for Italy in the 1986 World Cup.

There was a lot of expectation, especially because the promotion slots were increased to four as Serie A was going to expand the number of teams from 16 to 18, but first there was the Coppa Italia to play. Lazio were in a group made up of Pisa, Juventus, Lecce, Catanzaro and Casertana. For the first and only time, a penalty shootout was introduced in case of a draw after 90 minutes. Hence three points for a win, two for one on penalties, one for a loss on penalties. In the first game at Pisa, the Biancocelesti had won on penalties after a goalless draw, in the second against Juve they lost in the shootout after the match ended 1-1. They then beat Lecce 1-0 but collapsed in Calabria losing 5-0. The table read: Juve 10, Pisa 8, Lazio 6, Lecce 5, Casertana 4, Catanzaro 3. The top two qualified so the only hope was for Lazio to win and Juventus to beat Pisa.

The match: Sunday, September 6, 1987, Stadio Flaminio, Roma

A sparsely populated Flaminio Stadium set the backdrop for Lazio’s third home fixture, with much of the blame falling on steep ticket prices for the general seating sections. Coach Eugenio Fascetti’s side arrived still nursing the wounds of a bitter defeat at Catanzaro, though within the club, hopes remained that the low turnout wasn’t linked to their recent form.

The line-ups offered no surprises. Lazio were without Vincenzo Esposito, with Domenico Caso starting. Angelo Gregucci was tasked with marking Nicola D’Ottavio, while Luca Brunetti shadowed Davide Ricci. For Casertana, captain Mario Buccilli was assigned to Giuseppe Galderisi, and Alberto Lorieri kept tabs on Paolo Monelli.

Lazio carved out two golden opportunities early, both falling to Monelli. In the 5th minute, Caso beat the offside trap and squared the ball to Monelli, who, completely unmarked, fired wide of Massimo Battara’s left post. Then in the 10th, Raimondo Marino picked out Monelli again, but the striker failed to control the ball just metres from goal.

Casertana maintained a structured midfield presence, while Lazio applied pressure—albeit in a chaotic and uncoordinated fashion. Man-marking was tight on both sides. In the 18th minute, Walter Viganò tried his luck from long range, but Silvano Martina read it well and made a comfortable save.

The game grew increasingly scrappy, with little in the way of coherent play despite the hard work of Caso and Walter Casaroli.

Lazio broke the deadlock in the 34th minute through a messy sequence that ended with Giancarlo Camolese nudging the ball to Gabriele Savino, who slotted past an onrushing Battara with his right foot.

That goal gave Lazio a boost, while Casertana began to show cracks at the back. Just before halftime, Monelli was denied by a sensational reflex save from Battara, who kept out the close-range shot with a leaping parry.

Fascetti made a change at the break, bringing on Massimo Piscedda for Brunetti. Marino moved to mark Ricci, while the substitute filled in as a sweeper. The tempo, however, dropped noticeably. In the 59th minute, Casaroli headed wide from a Viganò cross — one of the few real chances in a subdued second half.

Monelli continued to push, forcing another save from Battara in the 65th minute with a shot from the edge of the area. Two minutes later, he tried again with a low diagonal strike, but the Casertana keeper was once more up to the task.

Casertana's best response came in the 70th minute when Ricci headed toward goal, but his effort lacked power and Martina collected easily.

Lazio sealed the win in the 75th minute with a second goal, again from Savino. Following another chaotic scramble in the Casertana box, the number 7 pounced and tapped in with his left foot into an almost empty net. The visitors protested for offside, but referee Felicani ignored both them and his assistant’s flag.

In the end, Lazio secured a deserved 2–0 victory — but while the result was reassuring, the performance left much to be desired. Fascetti’s men still had work to do.

Alas Pisa beat Juve so Lazio were out of the Coppa Italia.

Who played for Lazio

Martina, Brunetti (46’ Piscedda), Beruatto, Pin (75’ Esposito), Gregucci, Marino, Savino (89’ Nigro), Caso, Galderisi, Camolese, Monelli

Substitutes: Salafia, Rizzolo

Manager: Fascetti

Who played for Casertana

Battara, Buccilli, Pagliaccetti (63' Troise), Suppa, A.Lorieri, Pancheri, Viganò, Casaroli, D'Ottavio (67' Carbone), Maragliulo, D. Ricci

Manager: Liguori

Referee: Felicani

Goals: 34' Savino, 75' Savino

What happened next

Lazio started slowly. After the first 10 games Lazio were 12th, not too far away from the promotion zone, but still not in a good position. A couple of wins pushed them back up but then four consecutive draws, three of which goalless, did not give them the boost that was needed.

Then came the game at Taranto. Lazio were losing 3-1 after 35 minutes but goals from Savino and Muro in the second half allowed the Biancocelesti to draw. This was the turning point for the Biancocelesti. They started to climb up the table. Lazio-Taranto was the last game of the season. Bologna and Lecce were already promoted, Lazio and Atalanta had a one-point lead over Catanzaro. The other two matches of interest were Atalanta-Messina and Piacenza-Catanzaro. The Biancocelesti won 3-1 and secured promotion to Serie A. Finally.

Paolo Monelli was the player with most appearances this season (42) and the most goals (14).

Let’s talk about Fabio Nigro

Fabio Héctor Nigro was born in Junin near Buenos Aires on December 29, 1965.

He began his career in Argentina with Sarmiento in 1978, then spent two years at Rivadavia de Junín, before moving to River Plate. During the 1983 Metropolitano tournament, due to a conflict between the first-team players and the club’s management, youth players were fielded, and Nigro made 7 appearances in the league.

He arrived in Italy in October 1985 thanks to Argentine basketball player Carlos D’Aquila and Néstor Sivori (son of Omar). He trained with Parma under Arrigo Sacchi, but since he was coming from a foreign federation, he was required to play two seasons in the amateur leagues in order to obtain Italian citizenship.

He was signed by Vigor Lamezia (1985/86 Interregionale, 12 appearances and 1 goal). The following season he moved to Viterbese, coached by Omar Sivori (1986/87 Promozione), where he impressed by scoring 9 goals in 23 matches.

Lazio gave him a trial during the friendly match Lazio–Pro Patria (4–2) played in Nerviano on April 16, 1987, in memory of Luciano Re Cecconi. His performance was more than satisfactory, and the Roman club signed him that summer.

Nigro managed to make only 5 appearances in the league and 4 in Coppa Italia.

In 1988/89, he returned to Viterbese, where he remained for two seasons before moving to Frosinone. After two years with the Ciociari, he left Italy and move to France, joining FC Gueugnonnais (D2), and later moved to Slovakia, where he spent three years with Slovan Bratislava. Here he won the league three times consecutively (1993-96), a Slovakian National Cup in 1993-94 and three Super Cups (1993, 1994, 1996).

In the 1996/97 season, he returned to Argentina, signing with Estudiantes. He later played for lower-division Argentine clubs Atlético Douglas Haig and Atlético Sarmiento of Junín, where he eventually became a youth team coach.