“Pisa, Nicolas vs Loria: two gloves, a duel. The Brazilian has now taken back the goal”, headlines the Sports newspaper.
The Italian goalkeeper’s goal average is higher while the South American blocked 68% of his opponents’ shots.
In the sprint that Pisa launched towards the final goal, no detail could be left to chance. The third consecutive victory achieved by the Nerazzurri at the Arena Garibaldi has, in part, put the pieces of the two disastrous away defeats on the pitches of Brescia and Como back in their place. After the setbacks suffered in Lombardy, the Sporting Club is preparing to play another delicate away match, this time in the heel of Italy: at the “San Nicola” there is a Bari thirsty for vital points to avoid finishing increasingly inside the playout cauldron, with a dangerous view on direct relegation. On the other hand, Alberto Aquilani’s team mended the gap with eighth place and from next Saturday they will be hunting for important points to claw into the playoff zone.
Will he do it with Nicolas or Loria between the posts? Logic would have it that the Brazilian goalkeeper defends the posts of the Pisan goal, protagonist of an overall more positive season than that of his second. Nicolas took to the field 26 times, conceding 33 goals and keeping a clean sheet on 7 occasions: the number one averages 1.41 goals conceded per game and a rating (calibrated on our weekly report cards) of 6.2. The general opinion on the tournament of the former Verona and Trapani player is certainly weighed down by the serious errors committed in the matches against Palermo, Reggiana, Spezia and Parma, but to counterbalance there are many other performances well beyond the satisfactory, concentrated above all in the first phase of the season, when the rest of the team struggled to find the right balance on the pitch. Loria was able to play 7 matches, in which he had to collect 12 balls at the bottom of the bag for an average of 1.75. In these matches the Sicilian goalkeeper held a rating of 6.4, with 2 clean sheets and two “man of the match” awards obtained in our report cards […].
