Championship: Cosmos and Murata reach play-off semi-finals

San Giovanni long cherished the dream of reaching the semi-finals, but they ultimately fell in the final twenty minutes – undone by the sending-off of Corinti and the subsequent penalty awarded to Cosmos, who broke the deadlock from the spot and swung qualification their way. Filippo Berardi converted from the penalty spot, a few minutes before Alessandro D'Addario doubled the lead: the two San Marino players sealed Cosmos’ passage to the next round, with the Gialloverdi still in the hunt for a European place. To think that, between the two goals, San Giovanni were just millimetres away from the 1-1 equaliser that would have taken the Borgo Maggiore club into the semi-finals: Augusto Garcia Rufer’s powerful header, set up by his brother Azael, flashed just wide of Simoncini’s left-hand post. The script was easy enough to predict, with Cosmos constantly on the front foot throughout the match, even if De Angelis had little to do in the first half. Instead, it was Simoncini who had to fly to tip away a thunderous strike from Corinti. After the break, Cosmos also carved out clear scoring chances, repeatedly testing De Angelis’ reflexes. The deadlock, however, remained until the incident that led to Corinti’s red card – the midfielder going in with a high boot in a challenge on D’Addario. From the ensuing free-kick, Pastorelli crashed a header against the underside of the crossbar with De Angelis beaten. Shortly afterwards came the penalty – hotly disputed by San Giovanni, who ended up with multiple dismissals from the bench for protesting. In stoppage time, after D’Addario’s second, Zulli added a third on the counter. That is how San Giovanni’s extraordinary season comes to an end, while Cosmos will be back in action on Saturday in Montecchio for the second Championship play-off semi-final (17:30) against the winner of Tre Penne v Juvenes-Dogana. Murata’s run also continues, as they beat Tre Fiori 2-1 to earn the chance to face either La Fiorita or Folgore for a place in the final. Fiorentino’s side had no alternative but victory and were almost punished on the first opposition transition on the Echel-Affonso axis, only to concede in the 20th minute. Cicarelli intercepted a risky pass from Varrella and released Cunha, who in turn found Echel in space: the forward burst past Varrella and kept his cool one-on-one with Nardi, putting the Bianconeri – today in a cyclamen-coloured kit – in front. Tre Fiori, however, immediately found a way back, helped by a questionable outing from Benedettini – beaten to the ball by Fedeli near the edge of the area, earning a penalty that the striker himself dispatched flawlessly for 1-1. Before the interval, Peters had a good chance but failed to hit the target with a far-post run. Cicarelli was then wasteful, his left-footed effort lacking conviction. No better luck for Luigi Rizzo at the other end, as he sent a golden opportunity wide with his weaker foot. In the second half Benedettini produced the right reflex save to keep out Dolcini’s diagonal effort on the hour mark, while Murata threatened through Santos – who curled a left-footer just wide. That set up a thrilling finale, with Tre Fiori chasing the goal that would send them through. Micchi headed over from close range with 20 seconds remaining of normal time. At the end of the second minute of stoppage time, Bernardi came within centimetres of a winner. On the last counter-attack, however, Murata found the goal that settled it. Ura picked out the run of Gaiani, who nudged the ball away a split second before Censoni’s challenge: from his excellent vantage point, Beltrano had no doubt – penalty to Murata. Cicarelli took responsibility from the spot: the midfielder chose the diagonal, read by Nardi but beyond his reach due to the precision of the strike. The club from Città won 2-1 and secured a place in the Championship BKN301 2023-24 play-off semi-finals. Here is the current picture for the second legs of the play-off quarter-finals. All matches will be broadcast live and free on TITANI.TV, with Italian commentary:

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