League: winning start for Faetano and Murata

Two fixtures were scheduled on the last Saturday of August, sealing opening wins for Faetano and Murata. The Gialloblù were able to celebrate a victory on Adrian Ricchiuti’s debut in the dugout: the difference was made by Capriotti’s chaotic strike in the 22nd minute. The forward was in the right place to pounce after the ball came back off the woodwork from Parisi’s drilled cross-shot, which had been deflected by Gallinetta. Earlier, a Cailungo goal had been ruled out, with Gori appearing clearly offside. The Rossoverdi tried their luck from distance through Conti, but then almost paid dearly from a quickly taken free-kick to Brisigotti, who appealed for a handball by Gjyla. Cailungo had a golden chance to equalise on 40 minutes, but Forconesi did well to save Mezzadri’s set piece and was quick to react on the ensuing tap-in attempt. After the break, Sarti’s men – with Gasperoni standing in on the bench today – again went close, this time through substitute Lago, who failed to get enough angle on his effort. Faetano held on and banked their first win of the season, which did not grow in margin because of De Angelis’ wayward right-footed finish in front of Gallinetta deep into stoppage time. A revamped Murata, once again relying this season on a large group of players with clear Brazilian roots, restarted with a 3-0 victory over Pennarossa. Magnago broke the deadlock, having been judged onside as he ran onto Del Vecchio’s long ball: nothing Renzetti could do as he was beaten in the one-on-one. Pennarossa, however, were fully in the game and came close to equalising through Michelotti and Cobo. On 40 minutes, Gavelli forced Benedettini into action from a corner situation, but the goalkeeper was even more decisive to deny Carrozzo, who had been played through by a brilliant defence-splitting pass from Michelotti. Dolci’s side would have deserved to be level, but in the second half they pushed too many men forward and paid the price: after a fine low save by Renzetti on Echel, Murata – on this occasion led from the technical area by Luciana Bergese – put a firm seal on the win on 80 minutes. A lovely tight passing move, highlighted by a slick sole-roll from Magnago to release Teixeira, ended with the latter doubling the lead. Pennarossa poured forward and almost scored through Isaraj’s towering header, which missed the target by mere centimetres. At the other end, Murata broke through the middle once more and added a goal from Del Vecchio, who had the luxury of lobbing the goalkeeper before calmly rolling the ball into the net. Tomorrow sees the two postponed fixtures from the opening matchday of the 2024-25 Campionato Sammarinese, live streamed with Italian commentary on TITANI.TV.

---