League: Cosmos finish fourth, driven by outstanding Badalassi

Cosmos secure fourth place in the league thanks to a late surge in the closing stages of a hard-fought match that certainly did not lack for goals. San Giovanni take the lead from the very first corner: Semprini and the Cosmos defence fail to clear their lines in the six-yard box and Ghiggini settles the scramble by prodding the ball – just – over the goal-line, despite Carbonara’s attempted clearance. Selva’s men hit back immediately down the right, Ben Kacem’s flank: the forward bursts away and pulls back for Rinaldi, who cannot make a clean contact with the ball in the heart of the penalty area. Starna then has to produce his first top-class save on Errico, who from the edge of the box had picked out the bottom corner. The Gialloverdi’s efforts are rewarded shortly afterwards: Carbonara crosses from the right, Pierri cushions the ball into the path of the onrushing Badalassi, who instantly steers it inside the post. With parity restored, Cosmos keep their foot on the accelerator. But San Giovanni are very much still in it, threatening again when Zanni swings in a dangerous free-kick from the angle: a wicked trajectory that the defence only just manage to fend off. Just after the half-hour, De Nicolò drives straight through the middle, helped also by Montebelli’s inadvertent “screen”, and then goes one-on-one with Semprini, who times his low dive to perfection down to the millisecond. Badalassi has a first sighter at a brace with a low drive that shaves the outside of the post. Then, picked out by Rinaldi, he slips away from Ghiggini and Zanni with a feint, before calmly hammering the ball under the bar to complete the turnaround. The 2-1 lead, however, does not survive the “Caudine Forks” of stoppage time. Cosmos protest furiously for a tackle by Senjia on Pierri in the penalty area. Play continues, the move swings to the other end and De Nicolò, after robbing Ben Kacem, sprints to the by-line and then delivers a delicious assist for Zanni, who has nothing more to do than tap in from close range.

Early in the second half Starna has to beat away a venomous free-kick from Pastorelli. At the other end, De Nicolò looks to pick out Stefano Sartini, who cannot generate enough power on his left-footed effort. The match moves into its final ninth. Corinti tries to catch Semprini out with a right-footed strike from distance – ambitious, but straight at the keeper. Cosmos’ response is to reclaim the lead, once again through Badalassi, who makes the very last chance of the season count to move – temporarily, pending the final – into second place in the scoring charts. The former Tre Penne and Tre Fiori striker only has to open up his right foot to turn Ammirati’s clever knockdown into gold, sealing his hat-trick and making it 3-2 to Cosmos. In the few remaining minutes San Giovanni carve out two very serious chances to equalise: Ghiggini shoots from range and sends the ball centimetres wide of Semprini’s left-hand post; Corinti runs at Rossi, cuts inside and unleashes a right-footer that looks destined to drop in under the bar, but for Semprini’s acrobatic save, which keeps out both the equaliser and the spectre of extra time. That possibility is erased completely by Danilo Rinaldi at the very end of the six minutes of added time: Badalassi’s pressing throws half of the San Giovanni backline – and Starna as well – into disarray, with the keeper vacating his goal far too rashly. The chance is far too good for the former La Fiorita captain not to take: the ball “kisses” the base of the post and then settles in the back of the net, delivering the goal that definitively wraps up the third-place play-off in Dogana.