BKN301 Titano Cup: Murata turn it around, Folgore settle it in extra time

Anyone who thought Murata had already thrown in the towel after the 3-1 defeat in the first leg will have rubbed their eyes in disbelief. The black-and-whites produce a simply perfect performance at Fiorentino’s “Crescentini”: Faetano are the ones to pay the price, going down 4-0 and seeing the semi‑verdict of the first 90 minutes completely overturned. Girolomoni’s side exit the competition, while “Bobo” Sarti’s men go through. In the quarter-finals the Bianconeri will face Folgore, who yesterday squandered a two-goal lead but then, right at the start of extra time, managed to find the decisive spark to finally put a very tricky San Giovanni tie to bed, with their opponents refusing to give in until the final whistle. It was all straightforward, instead, for La Fiorita: their 5-0 first-leg win had already put Montegiardino’s men in total control, a dominance underlined by the 3-1 scoreline in the second leg against Fiorentino, who in truth never really looked like getting back into the race for qualification. Let’s start with the clash in Montecchio. After 19 minutes La Fiorita are already 6-0 up on aggregate thanks to a towering header from Brighi, superbly picked out by Semprini from a set piece. Bonifazi doubles the lead just before the half-hour mark, latching onto a brilliant pass from Zafferani that sends the number 17 in yellow and blue through on Bianchi, and he beats the goalkeeper’s rush with a deft but deadly touch. After the break D’Addario tries to make the outcome a little less harsh on Fiorentino, but they are forced to concede again before the tie is over. Once more, as with the opener, it comes from a free-kick: Lunadei helps the ball on towards the far post, where Vitaioli pops up and only has to guide it into the back of the net. This evening it will be either Domagnano or Libertas who book a quarter-final date with the side from Montegiardino. Everything was still to play for between San Giovanni and Folgore after the first 90 minutes. The 0-0 aggregate scoreline holds firm almost until half-time in the second leg, before Sartori’s penalty finally breaks the deadlock. At the start of the second half Bernardi’s header seems to open the way for a comfortable night’s work for Folgore. Not so, because San Giovanni react and strike twice in the space of six minutes through Senja and Bruma, set up respectively by Boldrini and Greppi. The 2-2 scoreline remains unchanged until the end of normal time, forcing the match into extra time. But after not even two minutes of the extra period Urbinati, again with a header, manages to loop the ball over De Angelis, restoring a precious lead for the Falciano side, who this time see it through to the end. In Fiorentino the most sensational verdict of the midweek second-leg fixtures is delivered. Murata set about their task aggressively and take the lead on 18 minutes through Ura, who steers the ball inside the post following a corner. On the half-hour mark the Bianconeri double their lead from the spot: Gaiani keeps his cool in the one-on-one with Porcellini. The aggregate turnaround arrives midway through the second half: Gjorretaj reacts quickest to Porcellini’s save from a long-range Patregnani effort and squares the ball into the middle for Ferraro, who slots it past the Faetano keeper. Murata’s comeback is complete, but still needs shoring up. All the more so as Faetano carve out two good chances to reopen the race for the quarter-finals, both denied by Manzaroli. The final “game, set and match” blow is landed by Carlo Valentini in the closing minutes, immediately after Faetano are reduced to ten men by Carabajal’s red card: Ura turns provider and finds his captain in a central area, and Valentini’s header extinguishes any remaining hope for Faetano and officially books Murata’s place among the last eight. This is the picture in the round of 16 after Tuesday’s early second legs. This evening the last four return fixtures, all of them of course live on Titani.TV:

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