This Week In Lazio History: April 7-13 | OneFootball

This week we remember important wins in the derby, against Juventus, Inter and Napoli, a Signori hat-trick on freekicks, a spectacular draw with Napoli in the first scudetto season and the passing of Can Bartu.

Matches of the Week

Date: Sunday, April 7, 2012 Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Napoli 3-1 A week after club legend Giorgio Chinaglia’s death Lazio honour him with a spectacular win towards a Champions League place.

Date: Saturday, April 8, 2023 Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Juventus 2-1 A wonderful back heel pass from Luis Alberto gives Lazio a priceless win

Date: Saturday, April 10, 1994 Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Atalanta 3-1 Three Signori goals, all on freekicks, in the last 25 minutes give uninspired Lazio decisive European points.

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009 Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Roma 4-2 Two goals in the first five minutes stun Roma who attempt a comeback but Lazio resist and then change gear to clinch a tense derby.

Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2000 Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Inter 2-1 (Coppa Italia Final, First Leg) On the night Ronaldo suffers a terrible injury the Biancocelesti come from behind to take the advantage in the final.

Match In Focus

Date: Sunday, April 7, 1974 Location: Stadio San Paolo, Naples Fixture: Napoli Lazio 3-3

Lazio had 32 points and were top of the table with a four-point lead on Juventus and five on Napoli. The final scudetto rush was on but today Lazio had a tricky game, Napoli away.

There was no love lost between these two clubs, even less after the previous year’s game in Naples. On the last day of the season, with Lazio challenging for the Scudetto, Napoli played to the death, celebrating their last gasp win as if they had won the World Cup and basically admitting they had been “incentivised” by the “Old Lady” of Italian football, who won the title using similar methods with their opposition Roma (who probably did not need much encouragement to throw the game anyway).

A huge test today for Lazio. A hostile environment and competitive opposition who had title aspirations of their own. Juventus meanwhile played mid-table Cesena away.

A lovely spring day on the bay of Naples saw a huge 75,000 crowd for this crunch match.

Napoli were missing midfielder Salvatore Esposito while Lazio fortunately had their best possible line-up.

The first fifteen minutes of the game were cautious by both sides, studying each other’s moves.

The game suddenly came alive in the 18th minute. Vincenzo D’Amico fouled Sergio Clerici at the edge of the box for a freekick. Both Andrea Orlandini and Antonio Juliano dummied a shot and Clerici ran up and wrong-footed Felice Pulici. Napoli 1 Lazio 0.

Lazio however reacted well and pushed forward forcing a few corners and putting Napoli under pressure. The equaliser came in the 23rd minute. Sergio Petrelli burst down the left and crossed to Giorgio Chinaglia who dived forward and sent a superb acrobatic header past Pietro Carmignani. Napoli 1 Lazio 1.

The game now was spectacular and end to end. It was Napoli though who scored again. First a Clerici header forced Pulici to dive and save into corner but from the subsequent cross from the flag by Faustino Cané, Juliano out jumped the defence and headed home. Napoli 2 Lazio 1.

Lazio again hit back furiously. In the 30th minute, from a Mario Frustalupi assist, Renzo Garlaschelli‘s header hit the post with Carmignani beaten.

The equaliser was only a question of time and it came in the 41st minute. Luciano Re Cecconi crossed and Garlaschelli jumped up challenging Carmignani, the ball fell to Chinaglia who volleyed it in. Napoli 2 Lazio 2.

In the last five minutes Lazio were all over the hosts who even had to resort to ripping Chinaglia’s shirt to block the Biancocelesti’s enthusiasm. Half time Napoli 2 Lazio 2.

An exciting first period with both sides giving as good as they got. A draw however would satisfy Lazio more if it were to stay this way.

After five minutes of the second half, the Partenopei were forced to replace an injured Giuseppe Bruscolotti with Vincenzo Montefusco. Three minutes later Napoli were awarded a penalty. It was a generous one, Petrelli slightly pushing Braglia who fell in the area. The Lazio players protested but it had been given. Clerici took it, Pulici went the right way diving to his right and got a touch but it went in anyway. Napoli 3 Lazio 2.

For the third time Lazio were behind but again they surged forward.

In the 63rd minute they too were given a penalty. Another Frustalupi invention found Franco Nanni who was blocked irregularly by Orlandini and Spartaco Landini. “Long John” stepped up and despite 75,000 whistles hammered a penalty down the middle to pull Lazio level yet again. Napoli 3 Lazio 3. A hat-trick for “Giorgione”.

Both sides at this point started to tire. Napoli ran out of the energy necessary to go for a winner and Lazio too, content with a point, lacked the strength to go for a full “vendetta”. In the 77th minute Fausto Inselvini came on for Nanni but little changed in the last ten minutes. Full time Napoli 3 Lazio 3.

A great game with Lazio showing great resolve and determination in coming from behind three times. It was not total revenge on the Neapolitans but it was good enough. Napoli were practically out of the title race.

The new table read: Lazio 35, Juventus 32, Napoli 30, Fiorentina 29, Inter 29. Lazio had lost a point on Juventus who had beaten Cesena 2-0 away but there was one less match to play and now it seemed like a two-horse race.

In Memory: Can Bartu

Can Bartu was born in Istanbul, on January 30, 1936.

His sporting career is interesting for the fact that he initially did not play football but basketball, a huge sport in Turkey.

He played for Fenerbahçe basketball and even played 6 games for the Turkish national team.

Then the Fenerbahçe football manager suggested that he try football, which Bartu took up with equal success. At first, he played both, once playing two games in the same day scoring two goals at football and ten points at basketball.

In the mid-50’s he decided to concentrate on football. He played a total of five seasons for Fenerbahçe, with 114 league appearances and scoring 54 goals. “Fener” won two league titles, 1959 and 1961.

In the summer of 1961, he moved to Italy and joined Fiorentina, despite Lazio going very close to signing him too. The manager was Hungarian Nándor Hidegkuti and the Viola finished 3rd. They were also runners-up in the Cup Winners Cup, losing 1-4 on aggregate to Atlético Madrid. They then won the Mitropa Cup. Bartu played 14 league games with 2 goals, 3 in the Cup Winners Cup with 1 goal and 6 in the Mitropa Cup with 2 goals.

In 1962 he stayed in Serie A but joined Venezia. The “Leoni Alati” (Winged Lions) were relegated and Bartu played 29 league games with 8 goals and 2 in Coppa Italia with 2 goals.

In 1963-64 his performances earned him a return to Fiorentina. The Viola finished 4th but Bartu only played 10 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia.

Lazio were Bartu’s next club as in 1964 he moved to the capital. The manager was Umberto Mannocci and Lazio finished 14th. Bartu played 14 league games with 2 goals and 1 game in Coppa Italia.

In 1965-66 Bartu stayed with Lazio as did manager Mannocci. The Biancocelesti finished 12th and Bartu played 24 league games with 2 goals (Bologna, Cagliari) and 3 games in Coppa Italia. The highlights of the season were winning a derby and beating Milan 2-0 away.

The 1966-67 season would be his last in Rome and unfortunately ended in relegation. The managers were first Mannocci and then Maino Neri but the Biancocelesti finished 15th. Bartu only played 8 league games and 1 in the Mitropa Cup. One of the few highlights was beating Inter 1-0 at home.

With Lazio in Serie B, Bartu returned to Turkey and Fenerbahçe. He played three more seasons for the Sari Kanaryalar (Yellow Canaries), winning two more league titles. He played 36 league games with 8 goals.

In 1970, at 34, he retired.

He won 26 caps for Turkey, scoring 6 times. He is one of the few sportsmen to have played for his country in two different sports.

On retiring he became a respected sports journalist.

As a player Bartu was a midfielder often used as a winger. He was a skilful, quick and agile player, often setting up goals. He was often called the “Sivori of Istanbul”. One weakness however was his inconsistency as he could be brilliant one week and poor the next. He played 101 games in Serie A with 14 goals while in his homeland he won four league titles and scored 62 league goals.

At Lazio he played 50 games with 4 goals. They were difficult years but especially in the second he played regularly. At Lazio along with Şükrü Gülesin (1951-52) he is THE Turkish connection. One memory the Romans have of him was his fondness for luxury products. He apparently came from a rich family of “Istanbullus” and claimed he played football just for the fun of it, preferring to spend his wages in boutiques.

Bartu died on April 11, 2019.

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