September 7, 1980: Ascoli -Lazio 0-0 (Coppa Italia)

Dag Jenkins
Sep 7, 2025
8 min read

Mission accomplished

With a solid and assured performance Lazio clinch necessary point to reach quarter finals

Also on this day:

September 7, 1986: Lazio Taranto 5-0, Coppa Italia. By beating Taranto 5-0, the Biancocelesti qualify for the next round of the Coppa Italia

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).

This was Lazio's fourth cup game and so far, things had gone well with three wins out of three (Pescara 2-0 away, Varese 2-1 and Verona 3-0 at home)

Lazio's league debut would be on September 14 at home to Palermo.

Ascoli were in Serie A and had finished an incredible 4th the previous year, under Giovan Battista Fabbri. The Bianconeri had won 11 (including Juventus 3-2, Inter 4-2 and Lazio 1-0 away and Roma 3-0 at home), drawn 12 (including Lazio, Milan, Inter all 1-1 at home) and lost 7. Top scorer was Gianfranco Bellotto with 8 league goals.

This season the manager of Ascoli's highest ever position stayed on. The main new players were: defender Gilberto Mancini (Verona) and midfielder Dario Bellomo (up from the U19s).

Leaving were: defender Giuliano Castoldi (Civitanovese) and forward Maurizio Iorio (Bari).

So pretty much an unchanged squad for the Bianconeri.

In the Coppa Italia so far, Ascoli had won 2 (Varese 1-0 and Verona 2-0, both away) and lost 1 (Pescara 1-2 at home).

The table read; Lazio 6, Ascoli 4, Pescara 4, Varese 1, Verona 1.

Lazio practically had two results out of three to go for today. They could even lose 0-2 and still go through.

The Ascolani's Serie A debut would be on September 14 away to Bologna.

The match: Sunday, September 7, 1980, Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca, Ascoli Piceno

A 12,000-crowd turned up on a pleasant and sunny day.

Ascoli had all their players available while Lazio were without midfielder Dario Sanguin and forward Stefano Chiodi, the striker would not return until November. Alberto Bigon was playing but had suffered from stomach problems so was not at his best.

Ascoli decided to attack furiously right from the start as they needed a big win today. In the 5th minute Maurizio Moscatelli had to save a Fortunato Torrisi header.

Lazio however soon settled, absorbed the early pressure and tried to hit the Bianconeri on the break.

In the 23rd minute Renzo Garlaschelli weaved his way past two defenders and shot but his effort was just wide with Felice Pulici beaten.

Lazio went even closer when they hit the woodwork. Giuseppe Greco sent Filippo Citterio down the left wing, the full-back cut inside and with Pulici coming out hit a low shot which looked destined for the back of the net but bounced back off the post.

Ascoli continued to attack but Lazio defended well, and the hosts never arrived in shooting positions. Halftime 0-0 and Lazio in no trouble whatsoever.

For the second half the home side took off defender Francesco Scorsa and brought on midfielder Carlo Trevisanello. For at least fifteen minutes Lazio were finally made to suffer as Ascoli were more threatening.

In the 58th minute Trevisanello was in a good scoring position but hesitated and was anticipated by Moscatelli and in the 59th minute a blistering shot by Adelio Moro went just over the bar.

Lazio realised they had to change something and replaced Greco with a defender, Pietro Ghedin. Meanwhile the “marchigiani” took off former glory Pietro Anastasi and put on another forward, Hubert Pirchner.

Lazio settled and the game returned to be similar to the first 45 minutes. Ascoli attacked but found no openings and Lazio were dangerous on the counterattack.

In the 70th minute Pulici had to save a Garlaschelli effort with his foot. In the 74th a Bigon header shaved the post. In the 78th Pulici had to rush off his line to block a good Garlaschelli-Bigon combination and in the 81st minute a powerful Nando Viola freekick whistled past the post.

In this period Ascoli created nothing, but the last chance of the game was theirs in the 83rd minute when Gian Franco Bellotto went close to scoring with a header. Full time Ascoli 0 Lazio 0.

Mission accomplished for Lazio who had not had to sweat to clinch the point and if anything should have won. The most important thing however was that the Biancocelesti won their group and were through to the quarter finals.

Next up were Bologna home and away in March. For now, it was time to concentrate on getting back to Serie A.

Who played for Ascoli

Pulici, Anzivino, Boldini, Perico, Gasparini, Scorsa (46' Trevisanello), Torrisi, Moro, Anastasi (60' Pircher), Scanziani, Bellotto

Substitutes: Muraro, Mancini, Paolucci

Manager: G.B. Fabbri

Who played for Lazio

Moscatelli, Spinozzi, Citterio, Perrone, Pochesci, Mastropasqua, Viola, Manzoni, Garlaschelli, Bigon, Greco (60' Ghedin)

Substitutes: Nardin, Pighin, Cenci, Valenzi

Manager: Castagner

Referee : Michelotti

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEZiTcN1IWI

What happened next

Lazio went very close to promotion but just fell short and finished 4th. Lazio battled all season with the frontrunners and seemed on course to go up. 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. Top scorer was Alberto Bigon with 10 goals (9 in B).

In Coppa Italia, in the quarter finals, Lazio lost both home and away 0-2 against Bologna. The cup was eventually won by Roma who beat Torino on penalties.

Ascoli finished 11th in Serie A (on 25 points with another five teams including relegated Brescia). After 12 games (with Ascoli 13th and with three consecutive defeats) Fabbri was replaced by Carlo Mazzone. The Marchigiani in total won 7 (including Napoli 3-2, Fiorentina 1-0 at home and Inter 2-1 away), drew 11 (including Juventus 0-0 at home) and lost 12. The most important thing was to stay up, as to repeat the incredible previous season would have been unlikely. Top scorer was Alessandro Scanziani with 5 league goals (Ascoli only scored a total of 34 goals...).

Serie A was won by Juventus for the 19th time. Going down were Brescia, Perugia and Pistoiese (the Orange have never been back).

Lets talk about Maurizio Moscatelli

Maurizio Moscatelli was born in Cesena, on March 26, 1955.

He started playing for his hometown club going through all the various age group sides.

In 1974 he was added to the first team squad in Serie A but before making his debut he left on loan to Piacenza in Serie C.

At Piacenza he was initially a reserve but then played regularly, making 17 league appearances and helping the Biancorossi to promotion to Serie B under Giovan Battista Fabbri. The following season he had some injury problems and played 6 league games while Piacenza finished 18th and relegated.

In 1976 Moscatelli joined Spezia on loan in Serie C. He was first choice keeper and played 37 league games under manager Nedo Sonetti. The Bianconeri finished 3rd. Moscatelli won the award of best Serie C goalkeeper of the year.

In 1977 he returned to his parent club Cesena, now in Serie B. He made his debut for the Seahorses, playing 11 league games, under Giuseppe Marchioro. The Romagnoli finished 8th. His teammates included Lazio legend Giancarlo Oddi.

In 1978-79 he was loaned to Pistoiese in Serie B. He stayed two seasons playing regularly. In the first season the Tuscans finished 5th while in the second they conquered a historic promotion to Serie A under Enzo Riccomini. Moscatelli played a total of 76 league games and in 1979/80 won the Guerin d'Oro for best Serie B goalkeeper. His teammates included Lazio legend Mario Frustalupi, former Lazio Sergio Borgo plus future top level managers Marcello Lippi and Francesco Guidolin.

Moscatelli was now a rated keeper and in 1980 he joined Lazio. He was considered an excellent signing for the Romans who had just been relegated to Serie B for some of their players' alleged involvement in the Calcioscommesse match fixing scandal. He stayed three years, but things didn't go as everyone had hoped. In December 1980, in an away game at Monza, he ruptured his Achilles tendon and never really recovered. He was out for 14 months but then when he finally returned, he was behind Felice Pulici and Dario Marigo and then Fernando Orsi in the pecking order. Meanwhile Lazio narrowly missed out on promotion the first year under Ilario Castagner, had an awful second season and finally won promotion in the third. Moscatelli played a total of 21 league games for Lazio.

In 1983 with Lazio back in Serie A he was sold to Cavese in Serie B. He made 22 league appearances and the “Blifoncé” finished 19th and relegated, under three different managers: Maurizio Bruno, Umberto Pinardi and Oliviero Bugatti. The squad included Lazio connections Ernesto Calisti, Antonio Sciarpa, Raffaele Sergio and Claudio Vagheggi plus future top manager Gian Piero Gasperini.

He then returned to Pistoiese in Serie C1 but only played 4 league games and the Arancioni were relegated under three different managers: Mario Caciagli, Antonio Giammarinaro and Giuseppe Malavasi. The squad still included Sergio Borgo plus former Lazio Rinaldo Piraccini. Gasperini was also at Pistoiese.

In 1985-86 Moscatelli was at Ancona in Serie C1 but only played one league game. The manager was Bruno Pace and the Biancorossi finished 8th.

In 1986 he joined Vis Pesaro in Serie C2. He stayed two seasons and finally started playing regularly again, playing 93 league games. In the first season the “vissini” won promotion to C1 under Walter Nicololetti and in the second 8th. In the second season his teammates included future Lazio manager Delio Rossi.

Moscatelli's last club was Riccione in C2 in 1988-89. He only played 4 league games and the Biancazzurri were relegated.

He then retired at 34.

He became a goalkeeper coach and was involved with Cesena for many years both with the youth and the first team squads.

Moscatelli was a goalkeeper, he was tall but agile with great reflexes. His career obviously has a before and an after his injury. Before his injury he had a great future ahead of him, he had just won a promotion to Serie A with Pistoiese and was now playing with Lazio who had the objective of immediate promotion. Without his injury they may have achieved that objective (goalkeeper Aldo Nardin certainly lost them a few points) and who knows how Moscatelli's career would have evolved. Surely better than after his injury when he was never the same keeper again.

He played 125 games in Serie B and won two promotions (Pistoiese to A and Piacenza to B).