Huge celebrations for Matteo Rover (front) and Alessandro Malomo: the striker hadn’t scored since November. © All images: FCS
In a hard-fought home game against Pro Vercelli, FC Südtirol scored important points in the fight for the title. But the match also revealed the current problems of the white-red.
February 13, 2022
From:
Christian Staffler
FC Südtirol is unchallenged and 8 points ahead at the top of the A group in Serie C. The championship title seems a stone’s throw away, but in the 3rd division every game is hard-fought. Despite the 1-0 win against a strong Pro Vercelli (recently 7 games without defeat) not everything that glitters is gold – except for the 3 points.
On the six, coach Ivan Javorcic put his trust in winter signing Ismail H’Maidat for the first time. The Moroccan proved his class with a fine passing game, but was not very present in the build-up – also because he was consistently man-marked. In general, FC Südtirol found it difficult to break through the well-organized guest defense. It worked best after switching moments, as with the top-class chances of Michael De Marchi (33rd) and Davide Voltan (36th).
In a nutshell: the highlights of the game
- Strong initial phase of FCS: Voltan, Galuppini (2x) and De Marchi missed the best chances within 10 minutes.
- After a super pass from Davi, De Marchi comes to an end, but fails at 18-year-old Rizzo (33rd). Shortly thereafter, Voltan shoots under pressure from 15 meters over the empty goal (36th).
- 1-0 through Rover: Casiraghi changes sides and the ex-Inter youth player volleys perfectly into the far corner. The jubilation is great, Rover has not scored since mid-November.
- 86 minutes: Pro Vercelli’s only chance after the break. A free kick from Panico goes just over it.
As in parts of the first half of the season, the white-red are currently finding it difficult to break the defensive bar against defensive-oriented opponents. Positional play has been better before, which is also due to the fact that there is no time for “normal” football training. If you have to play a match every three days, you don’t do much more than analyze and regenerate on the days when you’re not playing. And so against Pro Vercelli it was once again the class of the individual players that decided the game. Matteo Rover refined Daniele Casiraghi’s change of sides with a fine volley to make it 1-0 (71′). Javorcic had only come on for both players minutes earlier, which in turn underscores the enormous quality of the squad at FC Südtirol.
Serie C, 26th matchday: FC South Tyrol – FC Pro Vercelli 1:0
FCS (4-3-3): Poluzzi; Malomo, Zaro, Curto, Davi; Tait, H’Maidat (ab 58. Beccaro), Broh; Galuppini (from 58. Rover), De Marchi (from 66. Odogwu), Voltan (from 66. Casiraghi)
Trainer: Javorcic
Pro Vercelli (3-4-1-2): Rizzo; Auriletto, Minelli (ab 66. Masi), Cristini; Bruzzantini (AB 66. Iezzi), Louato (AB 60. Gatto), Vitale, Crialese (AB 83. Macchioni); Belardinelli; Della Morte (ab 60. Comi), Panico
Trainer: Lerda
Tor: 1:0 Rover (71.)
The other results
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The table
| SP | G | U | V | TV | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. FC South Tyrol | 25 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 34:6 | 63 |
| 2. Padova | 25 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 41:16 | 55 |
| 3. Renate | 25 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 45:26 | 49 |
| 4. Feralpisalò | 25 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 41:18 | 49 |
| 5. Juventus U23 | 25 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 25:29 | 35 |
| 6. Lecco | 25 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 33:28 | 35 |
| 7. Piacenza | 25 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 32:28 | 35 |
| 8. Triestina | 25 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 26:26 | 35 |
| 9. Pro Vercelli | 25 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 23:26 | 33 |
| 10. Albinoleffe | 25 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 26:29 | 28 |
| 11. Mantua | 25 | 5 | 13 | 7 | 22:24 | 28 |
| 12. Trient | 25 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 19:24 | 27 |
| 13. Pro Patria | 25 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 22:31 | 27 |
| 14. Virtus Verona | 25 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 22:26 | 27 |
| 15. Fiorenzuola | 25 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 23:32 | 26 |
| 16. Pergolettese (-1) | 25 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 28:43 | 26 |
| 17. Seregno | 25 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 27:33 | 25 |
| 18. Giana Erminio | 25 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 16:23 | 23 |
| 19. Pro Sesto | 25 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 18:32 | 20 |
| 20. Legnago Salus | 25 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 20:43 | 20 |
