Serie A: Sassuolo v. Bologna
View attachment 288571Sunday, 13 September 2015
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The Mapei Stadium - Citta del Tricolore is about two-thirds full and there is a large Rossoblu contingent behind one goal. Maybe as many as 5,000. Since Sassuolo is just inside an hour drive away (it's just SW of Modena), this is a Derby Dell'Emilia. Rossoblus haven't been particularly happy that Neroverdis have been in the Serie A while we've had a season in Serie B. So here's our opportunity to not only gain points over a potential relegation-threatened club but gain local bragging rights.
Shawn Parker is on the bench and Andrea Russotto makes his debut but not as my right winger. He'll play as the lone forward. Sadly, Shawn's good preseason form has evaporated. I'll have some work to do but I hope that Shawn will eventually start to deliver goals. Simone Pasa slots into the defensive midfield role and I've decided to play an aggressive 4231 formation with Federico Casarini in the hole behind the striker.
"I expect you to win today," I told my players. "Local derbies like this are huge for our fans. Water cooler bragging rights and all that. Plus I want to make a statement today about us. We deserve to be in Serie A. This is a big club that belongs in Italy's top league. Let's go out and show everyone what we're about."
View attachment 288566 The match didn't start well. We were disorganized and Sassuolo pinned us back in our own end. In the 6th minute, Neroverdi midfielder Josip Radosevic was allowed far too much time on the ball near the top of the box. He slipped a pass in to their Ghanian midfielder Raman Chibsah. Chibsah had enough time to turn and shoot. He hit the crossbar just inside Dejan Stojanovic's left post. The ball careened straight downward then bounced high. Striker Ezequiel Ponce and Dedryk Boyata launched themselves at the ball as it came down. The ball squirted across the face of the goal and directly into the path of Leonardo.
Easy tap in for the Brazilian. The Neroverdi lit some green smoke bombs in celebration.
1-0
"TIGHTEN UP!" I screamed as my players walked back upfield to restart the match. "TIGHTEN UP! DON'T GIVE THEM SO MUCH TIME ON THE BALL. PRESSURE THEM!"
We passed the ball around the midfield for a while after the resyart then eventually near the opposition penalty box. Casarini had the ball about 30 meters out and had time to look around. He sprayed a pass out to the left wing where Captain Archimede Morleo had sprinted forward. Morleo zipped a pass into Gaël Kakuta in the penalty box. Two defenders were on him in a flash. He spun his defender and smashed a shot goalward from an acute angle. The keeper should have easily blocked it but Luigi Sepe had dropped to spread himself as wide as possible and the shot was high. It nicked the crossbar and bulged the side netting!
1-1
That hurt. Their goalkeeper's confidence, that is.
We immediately stole the ball back and advanced into the Neroverdi half. Russotto raced forward then spun and played a pass back to Casarini. Casarini fed a pass across the middle of the park to Loris Damonte. Loris strode forward with the ball then gave it to Kakuta. Gaël paused a moment to evaluate his options and also to tease their right fullback. Then he charged forward. No, it was a feint. He slid a pass across the top of the box and a bit backwards into the pass of Federico Casarini.
Casa unleashed a tomahawk missile right at Sepe from 30 meters. But it was a no spin shot that sliced away from Sepe and nearly ripped the netting off! Poor Sepe just flailed at it.
1-2
Holy ****! Three games, three goals. Casarini is burning up! He and the rest of his teammates ran over to the Rossoblus right behind to celebrate.
As the game restarted, the Rossoblus switched from serenading Casa to a song about the Sassuolo keeper Sepe, his mother and how he shouldn't rub so much olive oil on his hands. I'm only going to paraphrase; it was cruel and disgusting but the young keeper was
not having a good match. The Rossoblus were revelling in his failure.
You know how you train for set pieces and corners? How you work hard on the training ground and then set pieces and corners never never ever never go the way you want on the pitch the next day? Well ... in the 21st minute, we actually pulled one off!
Russotto stood in front of the keeper. The towering twins Bernardo and Loris Damonte were positioning themselves for near post runs. Casa was lurking outside the area, Boyata and Kakuta were ready to make back post runs. As everyone crashed the net, Simone Pasa stood still at the penalty spot. Lepiller lasered a pass to him and Simone struck his side foot volley cleanly and the keeper had no chance!
1-3
We were cruising!
As we approached halftime, I yelled at everyone to maintain their concentration. Of course, we didn't.
In the 42nd minute, Ponce dribbled the ball over the half line down our right side. He flicked a pass inside to Chibsah who was wide open jogging down the middle of the pitch. As Damonte and Pasa scrambled over to shut him down, he spotted Leonardo out on the right. Morleo had taken a few extra steps inside and forgotten about the Brazilian.
At this point, I realized that my hand was over my face and I was peeking through my fingers. Chibsah chipped the ball out to Leonardo who was in alone on goal.
Except that Morleo came flying in with a goal-saving tackle. A roar of jubilation erupted from the bench behind me and from behind the Sassuolo goal as the ball rolled over the end line. That was an
AMAZING tackle.
View attachment 288553"Great first half, great first half," I enthused. "We were very well organized and you all did exactly what I asked of you. We need more of the same for the second half. I would urge you to avoid any more situations in which Morleo needs to save our ***** with a brilliant, highlight reel tackle. Okay? Other than that let's stay focused and keep the pressure high."
Of course, they didn't take my words to heart. Leonardo raced down the flank straight from the restart, beat Morleo and curled a beautiful cross that Ponce met with a glancing header.
It thankfully floated just wide.
Another day and this match might've been tied up. But it wasn't and we played safe for the rest of the match. They only managed a few long-range shots until the 79th minute when Dejan tipped a Francesco Magnanelli shot onto the post. Boyata cleared.
A beautiful day out in the Italian sunshine. Our first victory! Winning sure does take the edge off all the drama of the preceding week.
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