Could have been two points but could have been none

Dag Jenkins
Sep 20, 2023
3 min read

Season 1980-81

Game 2, Serie B

Sunday, September 21, 1980

Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona

Verona-Lazio 1-1

Lazio go ahead early, almost double but then sit back and risk losing

Lazio's league debut was on September 14 at home to Palermo and it ended 1-1. Today was the 2nd league fixture.

Verona had drawn 0-0 at Pisa on their league debut.

A balanced game was predicted today in Verona but Lazio could take confidence from their recent convincing win over the Scaligeri and the fact that in their five official games Verona had not scored a single goal.

The match

Just under 15,000 turned up on a warm and sunny day in Verona.

Verona were missing main keeper Paolo Conti, defender Fabio Ferri, midfielder Gabriele Venturini and forward Nicola D'Ottavio.

Lazio were without defender Giorgio Mastropasqua and forward Stefano Chiodi who would return from his suspension in November.

The first ten minutes were all Lazio. In the 3rd minute Filippo Citterio dispossessed Fabio Ferri, surged towards the by-line, went past Roberto Tricella and put in a perfect cross which was met by Giuseppe Greco who got their first and beat Franco Paleari, 0-1.

Lazio could have consolidated their lead with Greco again. In the 6th minute the Salentino forward picked up a bad pass by Tricella just inside the halfway line and ran forward, soon finding himself with just the keeper to beat but here, instead of shooting, he tried to go around him, lost the moment and then put in a cross that was cleared by Giacomo Piangerelli.

Lazio then pulled back and left the initiative to the hosts. Verona gradually grew in confidence and gained territory.

In the 25th minute came the first substitution but it was not tactical as Adriano Fedele limped off and on ran Tazio Roversi.

The equaliser came in the 39th minute and it was slightly lucky. Piangerelli crossed from the left to Francesco Guidolin who completely missed the ball which then spun off Dario Sanguin and fell perfectly for Luigi Capuzzo who could not miss, 1-1.

Just before halftime there was a bit of controversy as Sanguin appeared to punch Guidolin after being nutmegged, the referee however must have been looking the other way. Halftime Verona 1 Lazio 1.

Lazio had started well but then made the mistake of slowing down merely trying to control the game defensively.

Things didn't change in the second half. It only became dirtier and more physical and the Scaligeri attacked constantly but to be fair did not create many goal scoring chances. The biggest was in the 54th minute when Maurizio Moscatelli got a hand to a long range Capuzzo strike and pushed it onto the post.

Both sides made a substitution each, in the 57th minute Guidolin, possibly still groggy from the punch, was replaced by Nerio Ulivieri while for Lazio the perpetrator Sangiun went off for Mauro Manzoni in the 67th minute.

In the 69th minute Lazio had a rare foray on the break when Renzo Garlaschelli almost forced Paleari into an own goal but the keeper was rescued by Carmine Gentile who saved into corner.

On the half hour mark, Tricella had time and space after a good Davide Del Nero initiative but the future Verona scudetto winner lost the moment and was anticipated by Nando Viola.

As the game went on it lost its intensity despite Verona trying harder than Lazio to get a winner. Both sides however seemed reasonably satisfied with the point and the game ended 1-1.

A decent away point for Lazio who however could have taken better advantage of Verona's nervy start. Verona meanwhile had finally scored a goal and got their second point.

Who played for Verona

Paleari, E.Oddi, Fedele (25' Roversi), Piangerelli, Gentile, Tricella, Guidolin (57' Ulivieri), Ferri, Capuzzo, Scaini, Del Nero

Substitutes: Paese, Joriatti, Janes

Manager: Cadè

Who played for Lazio

Moscatelli, Spinozzi, Citterio, Perrone, Pochesci, Viola, Sanguin (67' Manzoni), Garlaschelli, Bigon, Greco