Futsal: two great clashes in Domagnano, Cailungo up against the leaders

Their first defeat of the season demands an immediate reaction from Cosmos. Franchino’s side will try to bounce back in the first of two matches scheduled tomorrow evening in Fiorentino. Lining up against the Gialloverdi will be a Fiorentino side in a deep results crisis (they are coming off three straight defeats) and who will be without head coach Antonio D’amico, suspended for one match by the Sports Judge. In the late game, again in Fiorentino, Faetano will look to ride the momentum of their last victory against a Tre Fiori side coming off a heavy defeat to Libertas. A blemish that demands a strong reaction from Bugli’s team who, with a positive result, could at least for a couple of nights pull clear of Virtus, currently level on points with the Gialloblù but only taking to the court in the final fixture of Matchday 7, on Wednesday. The futsal league schedule welcome back the Domagnano court. Here, at 20:15 tomorrow, Libertas and Folgore will go head-to-head to test their respective form. The Granata appear to be in good shape – aside from defeat in the penultimate round. The double-digit win over Tre Fiori has put Levani’s boys back on the right track and, concretely, has also lifted them into fourth place, currently shared with Cosmos. Folgore are ninth and lost in the last round, but it is also true they were up against the steamroller that is Pennarossa. Even so, that result confirmed the inconsistent spell of the Giallorossoneri, who are chasing consistency to climb the table – ideally starting from a prestigious springboard such as a victory over a highly-rated side like Libertas. In short, all the ingredients are there for a gripping match, which will be followed – again in Domagnano – by another encounter that promises to be fiercely contested, between Juvenes Dogana and Murata. Both are coming off wins. Murata snatched theirs almost at the death against Domagnano, thanks to a goal scored by a player who will not be available tomorrow due to suspension: captain Mattioli. In the Bianconeri camp there is an enticing prospect in the air: moving up to second place by taking advantage of La Fiorita’s rest day. On the other side, Juvenes Dogana have significantly improved their position thanks to victory over the previously unbeaten Cosmos. That result, added to the preceding draw, has allowed the Biancorossoazzurri to burst decisively into the play-off zone, with the easily imaginable aim of not settling for seventh place – especially given the small gaps separating the teams from fourth place down. Rounding off Monday’s league programme will be Domagnano and Tre Penne, meeting at 22:00 at the Multieventi. The Wolves fell after two wins and, more broadly, three games without defeat, but they still occupy a spot on the fringe of the most important area of the table – which they will look to improve, or at least defend. To do so, however, Gasperoni’s players will need to show all their determination and focus against a Tre Penne side who had a week off and who, the week before that, claimed their first win of the season – far from a routine one, as it came against a team who virtually sit at the opposite end of the table: Libertas. It is easy to imagine that Muccioli’s men have held on to both that euphoria and the desire to launch a comeback as demanding as it is necessary, given that the side from Città are still bogged down at the bottom of the standings, level on points with San Giovanni and ahead only of Cailungo, the only team yet to taste victory.

It is precisely Cailungo who will face league leaders Pennarossa in the first of the two postponed fixtures, to be played on Tuesday (22:00) at the Acquaviva Sports Hall. As the saying goes, Pollini’s men will have to throw their hearts over the obstacle against a side who so far have shown no weaknesses, having won every match played and conceded very few goals, just six, making them the best defence in the league – in stark contrast to Cailungo, who have the worst, with 23 goals conceded in six games. Cailungo also need to find another gear in attack, being the only team to have scored fewer goals than games played: just four. In short, it will be a classic top-versus-bottom clash, while Wednesday’s late game – hosted at the Multieventi, again at 22:00 – will pit two teams against each other whose positions have grown much closer in recent weeks. This is because San Giovanni, in the Matchday 6 derby (against Cailungo), claimed their first win of the season, while Virtus have not won since Matchday 3 (and in that case too the victims were Cailungo), since when they have earned just one draw alongside two defeats. Added to the opening draw with Cosmos, this leaves Michelotti’s team in tenth place on 5 points, two more than San Giovanni, who are second from bottom, level with Tre Penne. This too, then, will be a match well worth following.

Below is the fixture list for Matchday 7 of the league: