Everything changes so that nothing changes. The afternoon of the “Piola” tells of a Novara that sees salvation for at least half an hour, of a Pergolettese that goes from potential opponent of the Rossoneri to the play outs in fourteenth place and of a Pro Sesto, victorious, which is relegated given the nine points of detachment from Arzignano. It will therefore be the match between Novara and Fiorenzuola that will decide the third relegation to Serie D at the end of the double match scheduled for 12 and 19 May: the Piedmontese will have the advantage of the field factor and two useful results out of three as well as a psychological not to be underestimated considering that in the championship and cup with the Rossoneri they never lost a match.
The match is decided in the first half with a brace from an overflowing Urso, the second half is good for staging a chess game without discovering potential moves with the Piedmontese fans waiting for notifications from Gorgonzola, notifications with a bitter taste. Fiorenzuola presses from the first ball controlled by the home team who are forced to turn away from the goal defended by Sorzi: in the fifth the first corner, won and beaten by Brogni but pushes the Piedmontese defense away. In the sixteenth minute, Novara’s first offensive projection turns into the first real opportunity of the afternoon: after a run by Ceravolo who finds no luck in the middle, the Piedmontese restart with Ongaro who enters the area and shoots onto the post after sitting Sorzi down; Di Munno doesn’t take advantage of it and only finds a corner from outside the area.
In the middle of the half, Khailoti stops due to a muscle problem for the home team’s first substitution, while Urso doesn’t stop on his fourth consecutive kick: it’s the twenty-sixth when Ongaro mocks Cremonesi’s marking by serving to Urso who forcefully volleys past Cremonesi Sorzi. The goal completely changes inertia in the first half with Novara – at that moment except given the results of Pergolettese and Pro Sesto – pushing in search of a double: Fiorenzuola sees itself in the thirty-sixth with Bocic who kicks from the edge, Minelli controls the tense conclusion but too central. However, there is still room for the Azzurri to double their lead because Urso receives it at the edge of the area, in a tight position on the left, takes two steps and delivers it into the net, just below the top corner.
Musatti immediately enters midfield with Mr. Tabbiani leaving Mora in the locker room, booked in the initial stages of the match: within eight minutes Morello is also on the field who takes over Bocic on the left of the trident. Fiorenzuola must measure their strength in view of the next double play-out match while Novara can only wait for the news from the matches of Pergolettese and Pro Sesto with the double advantage which appears rather solid and never truly in the balance: the result is a recovery that is at times apathetic with Fiorenzuola trying to revolutionize the trident by bringing in Alberti and Anelli.
As the minutes pass, the rhythms become less and less intense: some variations on the theme also come from the Novara bench but it is certainly not the result that varies which remains impassive in the face of a left-footed gust from Musatti and a nice header from Alberti raised in the corner. At the end of the six minutes of injury time granted by the match director for Fiorenzuola the tape rewinds to last Saturday: Novara will once again be in the Rossoneri’s sporting destiny.
NOVARA-FIORENZUOLA 2-0
(first half 2-0)
NOVARA: Minelli, Urso, Bonaccorsi, Bertoncini, Gerardini (89′ Ngamba), Di Munno (89′ Schirò), Ongaro (79′ Corti), Khailoti (23′ Migliardi), Bentivegna (79′ Vilhjalmsson), Ranieri, Boccia. Available: Menegaldo, Desjardins, Cannavaro, Caravaca. Coach: Gattuso
FIORENZUOLA: Sorzi, Potop, Nelli, Bocic (53′ Morello), Ceravolo (63′ Alberti), Cremonesi, Mora (46′ Musatti), Brogni, D’Amico (63′ Anelli), Di Gesù (81′ Popovic), Reali . Available: Bertozzi, Grisendi, Bondioli, Binelli, Seck, Oneto, Iasoni, Sussi. All.: Tabbiani
REFEREE: Mirabella from Naples (assistants: Giuggioli from Grosseto and Picciché from Trapani)
NETWORKS: 26′, 45′ Urso
NOTE: WARNINGS: Khailoti, Di Munno (N); Mora, Bocic (F); ANGLES: 4-4; RECOVERY: 2′ st, 6′ st
