PARMA IN A, COMO ALMOST: VENICE KO AMONG CONTROVERSY
The race for direct Serie A is now decided. Venezia loses in Catanzaro, shipwrecked by the Ceravolo high water and in the contested refereeing decisions, and in one fell swoop allows Parma to celebrate their return to the top flight with two rounds to spare, and Como to put a foot and a half in by beating the Cittadella at the end. After a hard-fought first half, the match only really came alive in the second half: the Granata took the lead in the 71st minute, when with a splendid move the attacker Pittarello managed to finish in a cloud of Lombard shirts, and taking advantage of a rebound he mocked the home keeper. Cittadella’s joy, however, does not last long, Como responds immediately in the 73rd minute and equalizes the score with Verdi, who manages to find the precise left-footed shot from the edge of the area who beats Kastrati to his left. Cittadella defends itself with determination and shows off one of the best performances of the season, but it’s not enough, because in the 94th minute, in an action probably spoiled by a couple of irregular contacts, the Como team overturns the result with Goldaniga and are now one step away from the series A, with four points ahead of Venezia and only two games left to play. In Catanzaro we knew it would be a battle, against one of the best teams in the category, and it’s a shame that in the end it was the refereeing decisions that proved decisive. The Calabrians took the lead after five minutes with Pontisso, who coordinated his header and wrong-footed Joronen at the first useful opportunity. In the quarter of an hour, however, Vanoli’s team equalized immediately with full-back Idzes, who received the ball from Pohjanpalo and, two steps from the goal, made it 1-1. The prelude to a spectacular match is however cooled by a very violent storm, which forces the referee Ayroldi to suspend the match for almost an hour. When they resumed, with notable difficulties in maintaining the pitch, at the beginning of the second half Venezia overturned the result with the sensational double of Idzes, an Indonesian defender who resolved in the scrum for what seemed to be a day of grace. And yet in the end everything happens: Sverko gets his second yellow card and leaves Venezia with ten men (with many doubts), Iemmello evens the score with a nice turn of the head and then, in the end, the most controversial episode happens. With this contact in the area, Ayroldi awards a penalty kick in injury time, judge for yourself: Joronen rejects Iemmello’s penalty, but the referee has it repeated due to a couple of Venetians entering the area. Penalty countered, goal to make it 3-2 and everyone goes home. So, though, it really hurts.
