Two goals disallowed and one regular were not enough for Carpi to close the championship with 90′ to spare. In Imola, in front of 700 red and white hearts dreaming of crossing the Serie C finish line, a very tight match ends 1-1 and one that Serpini’s boys tried to win until the 95th minute. With Ravenna victorious in Fidenza, the ranking now sees Carpi at +2: an advantage that they will have to defend on Sunday 5 May, when a Certaldo team still fighting to save themselves arrives at Cabassi. In the meantime, between Monday and Tuesday, the ruling from the Federal Sports Court of Appeal is expected for Forlì’s appeal.
THE RACE
Mandelli can’t handle it and goes to the bench, Cecotti is sent to the stands to avoid further complications following Forlì’s pending appeal and on the left of the defense there is Verza, with Tcheuna confirmed on the right and Rossini alongside Zucchini in place of the suspended player Captain Calanca.
The first chance of the match goes to Saporetti, who in the 6th minute steals time and the ball from the home defense, the protagonist of a misunderstanding between defender and goalkeeper, and hooks with his right foot but the ball ends up on the outside of the net with the goal unguarded. Imolese defends compactly in its 4-4-1-1 with the defense and midfield lines very close, leaving Raffini with the task of “cleaning” some balls for Manes. Carpi struggled to widen the game, leaning mainly on the right on Tcheuna, while Verza had to watch his back on the danger Diawara. Despite a cumbersome and rather slow game, the red and whites still managed to build opportunities and on the half hour mark a free kick delivered to the center by Cortesi went straight to the post without anyone touching the ball. The goal arrives but from the other side: in the 33rd minute Verza clumsily sends a back pass between the feet of Raffini, who shoots from the edge, the ball slips out of Lorenzi’s hands and it’s child’s play for Manes to put the tap-in into the net of 1-0. Carpi tries to immediately mount a reaction and in the 41st minute a nice cross from Rossi from the left finds the head of Cortesi, who crushes it too much and the ball, after a bounce, goes over the crossbar. Before the break there was also room for Lorenzi’s redemption, who did well to lift a shot from the Bolognese winger Diawara onto the crossbar.
For the second Sunday in a row, the red and whites go into halftime 1-0 down. It was essential to immediately put it back on level terms and after 5′ of the second half Saporetti took care of it, resolving a furious melee in the Imola area and thus returning to the goal on the most important day after 4 games without a goal. Serpini plays the Larhrib card for Cortesi and Carpi gives an acceleration which in the 72nd minute leads to a high attempt by Forapani after a goal disallowed by Sall for offside by Saporetti. There is also time for two good ones on the backs of the red and white fans: Daffe wins a duel with Verza at the back and sends Gulinatti shooting who graces Carpi by kicking high from a few meters, then I fly into Garavini’s area: the referee blows his whistle, but it’s simulation. Before the 80th minute Larhrib comes into play, first touching the crossbar from outside then breaking left and his cross is headed by Rossi but Adorni disguises himself as Superman and takes the ball away from the goal. The Imola number 1 repeats himself a minute later on Beretta, sent face to face by a Rossi bank. 5′ from the 90th minute, a sensational goal was canceled out for Rossini, who had headed in a free kick from Beretta’s attacking midfield. But for the referee it is offside. There, the dreams of finishing the championship with 90 minutes to spare were dashed.
IMOLESE-CARPI 1-1
Goals: 33′ Manes, 50′ Saporetti
IMOLESE (4-4-1-1): Adorni, Manzoni, Dall’Osso, Agustin (16′ Elefante), Garavini; Diawara (62′ Daffe), Gulinatti, Vlahovic (58′ Rama), Capozzi (83′ Konate); Manes (58′ Mattiolo); Refine.
Available: Laukzemis, Kashari, Antognoni, Gospodinov.
Coach: D’Amore
CARPI: (4-3-1-2): Lorenzi, Tcheuna, Rossini, Zucchini, Verza; Rossi, Bouhali, Forapani (80′ Beretta); Cortesi (68′ Larhrib); Sall, Saporetti.
Available: Viti, Frison, Mandelli, Sabattini, Arrondini, Gerbino, Ofoasi.
Coach: Serpini
Referee: Maccorin from Pordenone, assistants Cusimano from Palermo and Petrakis from Siena
Notes: Manes ammonites; Forapani, Vlahovic, Rama, Rossi, Garavini, Rossini; injury time 3′ first half and 4′ second half
