Campionato: Fiorentino go top, fireworks between Murata and Domagnano

A second consecutive victory, once again sealed at the death just like last week, for Fiorentino and Leonardo Acori – absent from the dugout today for personal reasons. The Rossoblù have climbed to the summit alongside Virtus, both taking full advantage of Tre Fiori’s slip to move top of the table, pending Murata’s result. The Rossoblù break the deadlock at the first foray forward, exploiting a quick exchange between Abouzziane and El Ardouidi, with the latter finding the far corner past Alessandro Casadei with a right-footed effort after ten minutes. The Academy’s reply is immediate, and before the quarter-hour mark Alberto Riccardi has already restored parity: the first goal conceded by Simone Benedettini, whose clean sheet ends at 194 minutes. Santi is involved, starting the move with a back-heel that Riccardi finishes with a left-footed diagonal. Galeone’s subsequent attempt fails to hit the target. At the start of the second half Belward wastes a big chance on the counter, being denied by Casadei’s gloves. Bulli and Salemme are less threatening with their efforts, unlike Santi, whose right-footed strike from the corner of the box forces Benedettini into a crucial save for a corner. The game stretches and chances come thick and fast: Abouzziane is denied by mere centimetres, while Casadei shows sharp reflexes to thwart Belward’s solo run on 88 minutes. Just like last week, however, Fiorentino prove they have a sting in the tail: Casadei can only parry weakly a driven cross-shot from the left, and for Belward it is remarkably simple to tap home the winner. At the Federico Crescentini in Fiorentino, by contrast, everything happens in the opening minutes. It starts with Sartori’s goal direct from a corner, punishing Di Noto straight from the flag. Crucial is Augusto Garcia Rufer’s decision not to intervene at the near post, wrong-footing the San Giovanni keeper – who finds himself chasing the game early on. The striker tries to make amends on 19 minutes, but his header crashes off the top of the crossbar. At the other end, Di Noto has to excel to deny Pancotti a second, which for Folgore arrives moments later from the resulting corner. Credit to Miori, scoring for the second match running. Having conceded twice in quick succession, San Giovanni get back into the contest through the Garcia Rufer brothers: Azael sends Augusto through on goal and from a tight angle he beats Guddo, who shares responsibility with his backline. On the last ball of the first half and the first of the second, Ura and Pancotti go close to making it 3-1 to Folgore, who will not live to regret those misses. Despite a late siege, in fact, Montebelli repeatedly runs into Guddo and Lasagni’s side can celebrate their second win of the season. Rounding off Saturday’s programme was Murata-Domagnano. The game takes off immediately, thanks to Grassi’s men flying out of the blocks and going within inches of the lead on 8 minutes with Magnago’s lob. Ten minutes later, one-on-one with Colonna, Pineschi overcomplicates his finish and wastes the chance to beat the Giallorossi keeper. The opener arrives just before the half-hour mark, courtesy of a thunderbolt from Echel from twenty metres. A left-footer Colonna has no chance with, and from his own half he then watches on as Domagnano carve out a huge chance to level: Ferraro wins a penalty on 33 minutes, but Gregori is denied by Elia Benedettini’s intuition, preserving his side’s 1-0 lead. From the ensuing counter, Pineschi almost doubles the advantage in sensational fashion, but the 2-0 does arrive on 43 minutes thanks to Magnago’s killer instinct – first to pounce on the rebound after Teixeira’s effort comes back off the post. Murata relax and are punished less than a minute later, when Gozzi bursts down the right and whips in a teasing cross for Gregori, who gets Murata back into it with the last action of the first half. The redemption of Rossi’s centre-forward is completed at the start of the second period, as he stabs home the equaliser from a corner situation. This time Benedettini misjudges his intervention, Gozzi heads the ball towards the far post and Gregori gets the faintest of touches for 2-2. Midway through the half, Murata threaten with Ricci’s effort over the bar, before breathing a huge sigh of relief when Merendino’s deflected free-kick comes back off the crossbar. At the other end, Colonna and Gozzi are outstanding in keeping out another potential Bianconeri lead; on 85 minutes it is in fact Domagnano who go in front, from the spot after a clear handball by Schneider. Ferraro takes responsibility and sends Benedettini the wrong way to complete the Wolves’ comeback. The fireworks are not over yet though, as Murata find Millani’s towering header from an Echel corner to make it 3-3. Deep into stoppage time, Peters heads over from close range on what could have been a stunning turnaround: the most spectacular of the early kick-offs ends with a point apiece. Matchday 3 of the 2024-25 Campionato Sammarinese is available in full live streaming with Italian commentary on TITANI.TV.

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