Futsal: mirrored outcomes on Matchday 10, awaiting tomorrow’s late fixture

Straight away, what stands out is the strikingly similar pattern across three pairs of matches that opened the schedule for Matchday 10 of the San Marino Futsal Championship. The clear and expected wins for La Fiorita and Tre Penne (six goals each, both playing in Fiorentino) were matched by authoritative victories for Fiorentino and Folgore in rather tricky encounters (both finished 5-2 on the Acquaviva artificial pitch). In addition – a statistically unlikely occurrence in futsal – there were no fewer than two draws, coming in the games that on paper looked the most evenly balanced. Curiously, both matches that ended without a winner were played in Dogana. The first saw Juvenes-Dogana face their maturity test against Tre Fiori. The team coached by Levani passed it with flying colours, showing top-class mental resilience. Trailing 2-0 after a quarter of an hour following goals from Casadei and Morini, and having conceded the second despite a man advantage after Andreani’s sending off, the Biancorossazzurri mounted a remarkable comeback in the second half. Gatti and Chezzi struck in quick succession to restore parity, which Morini threatened again on 51 minutes. The final word, however, went to the Serravalle club, who snatched a draw a minute from time through Alberto Bologna. Immediately afterwards it was the turn of Virtus and Libertas, who served up a lively and entertaining contest. There was just one goal in the first half, scored by Thomas Paolini to send the Neroverdi in ahead at the break. In the second half, Zanotti’s temporary 1-1 lasted five minutes, just long enough for Aruci to restore the lead for Pollini’s side. It was not the final twist, because within another 300 seconds Francesco Rossi struck to make it 2-2, the scoreline that settled the clash in Dogana. On a cold, foggy evening in Fiorentino, by contrast, the attacks of Tre Penne and La Fiorita shone. First onto the court were the Gialloblù, who swept aside Cailungo, finding the net with five different scorers in an unequivocal 6-0 final scoreline. Bartoli, Gasperoni and Belloni opened the scoring in the first half, while after the restart there was room for a brace from Paesini, either side of Gualandi’s goal. The script of San Giovanni-Tre Penne was almost identical, with the Rossoneri – bottom of the table jointly with Cailungo – watching their opponents celebrate three times in each half. Rossini, Benedettini and Gamba effectively sealed the win, then Francesconi, Ercolani and Capelli added gloss. Corbelli’s men saved some pride with a goal from Berardi and had to play the final twenty minutes without Macina, sent off for a second yellow card. During the Biancazzurri’s power play, the San Giovanni goal remained unbeaten. From the Acquaviva synthetic pitch came, finally, the roars of Fiorentino and Folgore. The duopoly at the top of San Marino’s futsal – at least in recent seasons – has no intention of giving way to ambitious challengers (La Fiorita above all). Thus, Fiorentino opened with a clear 5-2 win over Murata. The Bianconeri’s goals came when the outcome was already decided, with El Attar and Moretti – the latter facing his former club – merely softening the scoreline. The substance of the match tells of a superb Fiorentino side inspired by Luca Zafferani: the Rossoneri pivot stamped his mark on the evening with a hat-trick, bookended by goals from captain Ceccoli and Busignani, who made the champions’ four-goal haul look even more impressive. Whether Folgore will again be Fiorentino’s main rival in the hunt for trophies remains to be seen. For now, La Fiorita sit level at the top with the reigning champions – albeit with a game in hand. In the meantime, Claudio Zonzini’s side can enjoy a comprehensive victory over Domagnano, which allowed them to draw level with Tre Fiori on 22 points. As in the previous match, Domagnano’s flashes came too late to reopen the contest: Gracik could still savour the satisfaction of a brace against high-profile opposition, but by then they had already been breached five times. In addition to braces from Bernardi and Chezzi, the Giallorossoneri’s scoresheet also benefitted from an own goal by Kevin Vagnini. Here is the partial picture for Matchday 10 of the 2023-24 San Marino Futsal Championship:

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