This Week In Lazio History: March 3-9 | OneFootball

This week we remember derby wins, an 8-2 against Fiorentina, other victories against the big clubs of the north, plus one of the biggest refereeing scandals of all time.

Matches of the Week

Date: Sunday, March 3, 1991 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Juventus 1-0 Forever the gentleman, Zoff jumped off his bench at the final whistle only to regain his composure within seconds, after a Riedle header had given him the satisfaction of beating his former team.

Date: Sunday, March 4, 1990 Venue: Stadio Flaminio, Rome Fixture: Lazio Inter 2-1 The Biancocelesti beat Inter on the day when Malgioglio returned to Rome, years after spitting on the Lazio jersey. Goals from Ruben Sosa and Pin.

Date: Sunday, March 5, 1995 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Fiorentina 8-2 A celebration of Zeman’s football at its best as Lazio put eight goals past Fiorentina. Four goals from Casiraghi plus one each for Negro, Cravero, Boksic and Di Vaio.

Date: Sunday, March 8, 1998 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Roma 2-0 Lazio humiliate city rivals by winning unprecedented fourth derby of the season thanks to Boksic and Nedved

Date: Wednesday, March 9, 1966 Venue: Stadio San Siro, Milan Fixture: Milan Lazio 0-2 A solid Lazio end the Rossoneri’s Scudetto hopes with goals from Governato and D’Amato

Match In Focus

Date: Sunday, March 6, 1994 Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome Fixture: Lazio Roma 1-0

Like all of the derbies in the 90’s the match was, to be honest, a brutal affair. Fifty fouls (the first after just 13 seconds) plus countless others ignored by the referee. If this game had been played today, within the first 30 minutes there would have been at least 10 red cards.

Both sides came into this derby really needing a win. Lazio to continue their quest for a place in Europe for the following season and Roma to get out of troubled waters. The previous 7 games between the two teams had all been draws (six 1-1’s!!!) so there was a need for something different.

Lazio started very well and in the third minute an Aron Winter header from a corner was saved on the line by Walter Bonacina. The Biancocelesti were very aggressive, especially Boksic playing his first derby, and the Giallorossi seemed a little intimidated.

The dense fog of the smoke bombs did not allow the spectators to see much but those who could were able to witness Lazio’s goal. Diego Fuser to Winter on the right, cross towards the centre of the box and Beppe Signori with a right foot volley put the ball into the top hand corner.

The only people who could see this were the ones facing Winter’s cross in Tribuna Monte Mario or looking at it from Tribuna Tevere. If you listen closely to the reaction of the fans, you will notice that the first cheers for the goal are rather quiet and that they pick up momentum once the rest of the stadium understands that Lazio have scored. A surreal moment.

Roma were in shock and had enormous difficulty in mustering up any type of reaction. The fouls continued. At one point Paul Gascoigne tried to steal the ball from Bonacina slightly too dangerously. Gazza got the ball and started to run towards the Roma goal. The Roma defender got up, ran after the Englishman and fouled him. A retaliation foul. In today’s game they would have both been sent off, but not in the 90’s. Gazza fell badly and injured his rib. He was forced off in the 24th minute and in came Fabrizio Di Mauro (the hero of the previous derby who had equalised for Lazio). Lazio had already lost Cristiano Bergodi through injury (and in had come Beppe Favalli), so no more substitutions possible for the Biancocelesti.

Before the end of the first half, Roma had a couple of chances. In the 23rd minute Sinisa Mihajlovic crossed from the left, Giuseppe Giannini managed to get his head to it but the ball went out. In the 31st minute Massimilliano Cappioli’s header was saved on the line by Fuser who anticipated Luca Marchegiani.

Roma had been fairly absent in the first half so Carlo Mazzone sent in youngster Francesco Totti at the beginning of the second to try and wake his team up. Roma started pushing and in the sixth minute came really close to an equaliser. Aldair sent the ball into the penalty box slightly on the left, Cappioli managed to head it towards the centre, Abel Balbo’s volley hit the woodwork.

In the 15th minute Signori dribbled past a Roma player and went into the box on the far right. Instead of crossing towards the centre he tried to shoot but the ball went over the crossbar.

Colossal chance for Roma in the 68th minute. Totti managed to get past Paolo Negro and entered the penalty box on the right, very close to the goal line. The Roma player felt the presence of the Biancoceleste defender behind him and tried his luck with the ref. He dived. It worked, penalty for Roma. As usual when it comes to the other team from Rome, the players always forget to not count your chickens before they hatch. Cappioli raised his arms in jubilation towards the Curva Sud, Totti even sent kisses. Their faith in captain Giannini was misplaced. Marchegiani became the Lazio hero of the day and saved the penalty.

Ten minutes later Amedeo Carboni, in an aerial challenge with Fuser, deliberately elbowed the Lazio winger in the face. For the ref it was not even a foul.

In the 80th minute, Lazio went on the counterattack. Signori to Boksic who ran past Aldair and entered the box but his shot was well saved by Giovanni Cervone. Six minutes later, another big chance for Roma. Totti crossed low from the right, Balbo anticipated the Lazio defence and was all alone in front of Marchegiani. His indecision on which foot to use allowed the Lazio goalkeeper to clear.

From then on Lazio safely controlled the game and Roma gave up. A very intense game, loads of fouls and not much actual playing time, just under 43 minutes. Finally a win after seven consecutive draws.

The biggest refereeing scandal of all time

Date: Sunday, March 4, 1962 Venue: Venue: Stadio Flaminio, Rome Fixture: Lazio Napoli 0-0

The Serie B big match was played on a terrible pitch due to the rain. Pierluigi Ronzon opened the hostilities immediately for Napoli but the ball went wide. Angelo Longoni had a chance in the 5th minute but his shot was miscued. A Giancarlo Morrone free kick was well saved by Pontel and Tacchi’s shot in the 11th minute just missed the post. Idilio Cei had work to do on a Gianni Corelli shot and in the 27th minute a Vincenzo Gasperi header following a free kick from Paolo Carosi hit the top of the crossbar.

In the second half Lazio put their foot on the accelerator and in the 76th minute there was a free kick for the Biancocelesti. Gianni Seghedoni sent a curling ball into the net just under the crossbar and Lazio made it 1-0. The Lazio players were overjoyed and the Neapolitans in despair. Referee Iginio Rigato initially gave the goal but the linesman was signalling that the ball had gone out because he saw a ball boy collect it outside the goal. The referee changed his mind. No goal, ball to Napoli. The Lazio players could not believe what they were witnessing. The ball clearly went in and they tried to get the referee to check if there was a hole in the goal. But Rigato just laughed. Adelmo Eufemi found the hole and showed it to the ref, but he was not interested.

The game ended in a goalless draw.

That evening what had happened was all over the news and the TV footage clearly showed that the ball went in. Lazio appealed to the Football League on two accounts: a) it was a goal and b) the ref did not check the goal nets before the match as is obligatory. The club was logically confident.

What happened next: Lazio’s appeal

All Lazio wanted was the repetition of the match. They had won the game in the first half of the season in Naples so they felt rather confident they could beat Napoli again. But the appeal was uphill right from the start. RAI, the Italian state television, refused to hand over the footage, the Federal Appeal Commission (CAF) refused to examine the TV images, the Rome-based media who should have raised hell was very quiet.

The game was not repeated. Lazio Napoli 0-0.

The Hoffenheim- Bayern Leverkusen ghost goal

There was a similar case in Hoffenheim-Bayern Leverkusen played on October 19, 2013. Stefan Kiessling headed the ball in from a corner. Some of his teammates celebrated but strangely he put his head in his hands in despair, as if he had missed a big opportunity. But the ball was in the back of the net!!! And the referee, Felix Brych, gave the goal!!! What happened?

There was a hole in the net. The ball was out but ran along the outside of the net and back into it. The footage was clear and after the game Hoffenheim asked for the match to be repeated. It was not, Hoffenhiem lost the appeal and the game. It was the referee’s mistake and not a technical error.

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