Championship: a golden draw for Pennarossa, Libertas win but it’s not enough

Libertas needed a victory by three clear goals to overturn the first-leg result and book a place in the semi-finals at the expense of Tre Penne. Cardini’s side begin the task – objectively a very tough one – but cannot complete it: Ruiz’s goal (a fine glancing header from a corner on 35 minutes) fuels the maroon hopes, which however find no further lifeblood after the break. Instead comes Barretta’s straight red card (late tackle on Cesarini) in the 3rd minute of added time, just when Tre Penne already have more than one foot over the finish line. In the semi-finals, Ceci and his players will meet Tre Fiori, who copy and paste the first-leg score and go through thanks to their higher placing in the regular season. There are other aspects, beyond the final 1-1, that mirror those of the first 90 minutes against Faetano: the fact that the game only opens up deep into the second half, for example; or that Faetano are the ones to go in front. And finally, that the two goals come in very similar circumstances. On Wednesday they were two corners, today they were two penalties. On 73 minutes Palazzi steps up after Russo is brought down in the area: Girolomoni’s playmaker sends Aldo Simoncini the wrong way and for a few minutes puts his side into the semi-finals. But Tre Fiori take only a few minutes to reply: this time it is De Lucia from the spot, beating Marino and turning the tide of the two-legged tie. It is also the last decisive blow: the draw makes all the difference in the world for Borgagni’s team, who can thus continue their hunt for the seasonal doblete. Pennarossa also celebrate an 1-1 draw at length, having won the first leg and therefore able to profit to the full from two out of three possible results. Virtus, on the other hand, simply had to win, and they lay the groundwork for that after just 4 minutes, when Angeli curls in a perfect right-footed effort from the edge of the box: the ball kisses the underside of the crossbar at the junction of the posts before bouncing over the line. Absolutely no chance for Semprini. At the dawn of the second half, however, substitute Rastelli finds the net at the same end, this time to bring Pennarossa level. Virtus, just one goal away from the semi-final, throw everything forward, but in the end it is the men from Chiesanuova who celebrate. They will face La Fiorita in the next round, a side Andy Selva knows inside out, to put it mildly. The Montegiardino team turn the tie around against Fiorentino and even survive a penalty. At the end of the first half, in fact, Abouzziane is brought down in the area by Gasperoni. Ben Kacem takes responsibility from the spot, but the left foot of the red-and-blue top scorer flies high over the bar. Moments later, Di Maio settles a goalmouth scramble from a corner and with a header gives his team the lead. A narrow win would have been enough for the number one seeds, but they decide to make qualification safe by changing the scoreline just after the hour mark, when Lunadei sends Rinaldi through on goal and the latter keeps his cool and finishes precisely past Bianchi. Here is the full picture of the Championship quarter-finals: *La Fiorita, Pennarossa, Tre Fiori and Tre Penne advance to the semi-finals

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FIORENTINO Bianchi, Bottoni, Calzolari, Filippi, Arrigoni, Molinari (from 68' Mastrota), Colagiovanni (from 68' Perlaza), Michelotti (from 57' D'Addario), Castellazzi (from 68' Zouhri), Abouzziane, Ben Kacem Substitutes: Berardi, Terenzi, Paglialonga Coach: Enrico Malandri   LA FIORITA Vivan, Gasperoni, Brighi, Di Maio, Grandoni, Errico, Loiodice, Zafferani (from 60' Lunadei), Amati (from 76' Pancotti), Zulli (from 76' Serra Sanchez), Rinaldi (from 71' Guidi) Substitutes: Venturini, Santi, Gregori Coach: Oscar Lasagni   Referee: Marco Avoni Assistants: Leonardo Battista, Andrea Depaoli Fourth official: Davide Borriello Booked: Gasperoni, Calzolari, Ben Kacem, Errico, Bottoni, Lunadei, D'Addario, Serra Sanchez, Mastrota Scorers: 44' Di Maio, 61' Borriello Note: on 38' Ben Kacem misses a penalty  

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PENNAROSSA Semprini, Mantovani, Martin, Baldani (from 46' Rastelli), Tomassini, Cola (from 62' Raffelli), Michelotti (from 81' Codispoti), A. Conti, Tiboni (from 90' D. Conti), Halilaj (from 62' Dema), Isaraj Substitutes: Landi, Sebastiani Coach: Andy Selva   VIRTUS Passaniti, Battistini, Nodari, Giacomoni, Gori, Magri, Ciacci (from 69' Sopranzi), Golinucci, Raschi (from 60' Apezteguia), Sorrentino (from 78' Raiola), Angeli Substitutes: Paolini, Castiglioni, Muggeo, Tadzhybayev Coach: Luigi Bizzotto   Referee: Antonio Ucini Assistants: Gianmarco Ercolani, Ernesto Cristiano Fourth official: Alessandro Vandi Booked: Magri, Nodari, Tiboni, Passaniti, Dema, Semprini Scorers: 4' Angeli, 48' Rastelli

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FAETANO Marino, Tomassoni, Fatica, Romagna, De Buono (from 55' Russo), Fall, Palazzi, Giardi, Federico (from 55' Pini), Tamburini (from 62' Soumah), Kalemi (from 62' Magno) Substitutes: Rossi, Broccoli, Barretta Coach: Danilo Girolomoni TRE FIORI Simoncini, Adami, Lentini, Gjurchinoski, Dolcini, Grani (from 62' Cuzzilla), D'Addario, Pracucci (from 89' Della Valle), De Falco, De Lucia, Censoni Substitutes: Castagnoli, Astolfi, Tamagnini, Ciccione, Ramundo Coach: Gian Luca Borgagni   Referee: Andrea Piccoli Assistants: Salvatore Tuttifrutti, Alfonso Giannotti Fourth official: Emiliano Albani Booked: Pracucci, Censoni, Simoncini, Fatica Scorers: 72' pen. Palazzi, 79' pen. De Falco

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LIBERTAS Zavoli, Nigretti, Ruiz, Patregnani, Barretta, Pesaresi, Cuomo (from 83' Morelli), A. Gasperoni (from 78' L. Gasperoni), Olcese, Aruci, Flores Substitutes: Gentilini, Ndao, Berretti, Dolente Coach: Gabriele Cardini   TRE PENNE Mignani, Sartori, Cauterucci (from 72' Cesarini), Battistini, Lombardi, Genestreti, Cibelli (from 72' Zonzini), Righini, Badalassi (from 85' P. Semprini), Gai (from 85' M. Semprini), Ceccaroli (from 51' Chiurato) Substitutes: Zambetti, Zafferani Coach: Stefano Ceci   Referee: Mattia Andruccioli Assistants: Laurentiu Ilie, Fabrizio Morisco Fourth official: Nicola Villa Booked: Olcese, A. Gasperoni, Nigretti, Chiurato, Ruiz, Genestreti Sent off: Moretti (straight red), Barretta (straight red) Scorers: 35' Ruiz

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