Futsal: La Fiorita and Juvenes Dogana draw level

Juvenes Dogana do not slip up, Pennarossa do. And so the Chiesanuova side find themselves dragged into the battle for seventh place, currently avoided only thanks to a better head-to-head record. But the catch-up has happened and the head-to-head between the two teams will be one of the hot topics of the last two regular season matchdays, in which several other battles will also take centre stage. For example, the one between Cosmos and Domagnano, both winners on the Monday of Matchday 28 and still separated by a single point around eighth and ninth place. Or the one between La Fiorita and Virtus, now jointly in second behind the runaway leaders Murata. The black-and-white league leaders were back from their bye week and faced a near top-versus-bottom clash with Fiorentino, resigned to missing out on the play-offs. Resigned to that idea, but not to the idea of troubling the frontrunners, given that the match was only decided in the very final minutes, after Fiorentino (47’) had taken the lead through Paoloni. Busignani equalised on 52 minutes and then, two minutes into added time, sealed Murata’s 23rd win of the campaign; in between, namely in the 56th minute, came Dominella’s goal to make it 2-1. Virtus were resting and La Fiorita did not let the chance to catch them slip away. The expectations were fully met in the match between Pietrangeli’s in-form side and bottom club San Giovanni. It finished 8-2, with Gracik halving the early 2-0 scoreline set by Bologna and Matteo Chezzi, and then Filippo Donati softening, late on, a deficit that had become heavy for San Giovanni, further punished by another goal from Matteo Chezzi and then by Giuccioli, Cecchini and a Tassitano brace. The final word in the contest still belonged to La Fiorita, specifically to Bernardi, who wrapped things up on 60 minutes.

For now, Virtus have the edge on head-to-head results. The same situation, as mentioned, applies to Pennarossa over Juvenes Dogana, who draw level with the Biancorossi by taking advantage of the latter’s heavy defeat against Domagnano. The Wolves had won the first leg 4-1 and improved on that in the return fixture, posting a 5-0 win with Sensoli scoring the first two goals – the only ones in the first half. Pascucci widened the gap at the start of the second half; then Righi and Hidri, in the final six minutes, completed the Giallorossi five-goal haul. The 5-0 goal, moreover, arrived with Domagnano playing with a man advantage: a minute before Hidri beat Bizzocchi, Toccaceli had been shown a straight red card. Domagnano were back celebrating after the defeat to La Fiorita, but did not move up the table because in the meantime Cosmos also claimed all three points in their clash with Faetano. The latter had hoped to secure early qualification for the play-offs, but Selva’s side were unable to complete the mission, although they still hold a good cushion over Tre Fiori. Dominici quickly made it 1-0 to Cosmos, who then doubled within the first quarter of an hour through Guidi. Faetano pulled one back at the end of the first half with Rossi, but then found no further way through the Gialloverdi defence, despite playing the very final stages with an extra man after Francioni’s dismissal. Libertas had the same objective as Faetano – and suffered defeat by the same scoreline, going down to Tre Penne after taking the lead. The Granata went ahead on 7 minutes through Selva and were pegged back on 24 minutes by Perrozzi. The goal that gave Penserini’s men their first win after three games without came in first-half stoppage time, scored by Bernardi.

Pennarossa’s defeat benefits not only Juvenes Dogana but also their “cousins” Folgore, who shore up fifth place by moving four points clear of the Biancorossi. Against Cailungo, Claudio Zonzini’s side stretched their winning run to five. The 4-0 win was opened in the 4th minute by Muccioli, with Ercolani, Bacciocchi and Pazzaglia also on the scoresheet – all before the 5th minute of the second half. The clash at the Multieventi between Juvenes Dogana and Tre Fiori carried plenty of weight for both sides. Tre Fiori were playing for their slim hopes of reaching the play-offs, hopes that are still alive thanks to the defeats suffered by Libertas and Faetano, but increasingly faint as the number of remaining fixtures dwindles. As for Juvenes, their – successful – mission was to catch Pennarossa. Once again, Simone Celli proved to be in sparkling form: he opened the scoring on 7 minutes and then made it 4-0 after goals from Cian and Cavalli. Tre Fiori tried to get back into it through former Juvenes man Marinelli, but within ten minutes more salt was rubbed into the wounds of Bugli’s side. It finished 5-1, with the final seal applied by another former player, Zanotti.

Here is the full picture from Matchday 28 of the league:

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