LECCE – Empoli and Lecce share the stakes, but it is the hosts who have the greatest recriminations at the end of a match in which Mr. D’Aversa’s Giallorossi offered a rather dull performance. Falcone, effective at the limits of perfection, and Pongracic, punctual and clean, essentially kept the Salento players afloat, especially in the second half.
The goals came in the second half: Banda gave the guests the lead in the 64th minute, thanks to a huge mistake by Berisha, then it was an own goal by Rafia, who had come on in place of Oudin shortly before, to restore the balance in the 72nd minute ‘. Fourth useful result in a row for Lecce (glass half full) but they have been missing the three points for ten rounds now (glass half empty): it may be true that we shouldn’t make an illness out of it and that it is important, in any case, to move the rankings, but the slow trend of the last ten days is a fact that must be taken into account, especially in view of the corrective measures to be made in the winter transfer window.
The points in the standings for D’Aversa’s team are now 17, with a margin over third-last place (Empoli and Udinese) of five points, one less than they had at the end of the previous round: Cagliari’s comeback victory over Sassuolo has stirred things up at the bottom of the ranking. The match at Via del Mare with Di Francesco’s Frosinone is scheduled for the next day, who have 19 points and are proving to be the real surprise of the championship.
First half
Piccolos at the center of the attack, with Oudin very aggressive enough to configure a 4-4-2 in the non-possession phase, Sansone on the pitch from the start in place of the unavailable Almqvist: Lecce starts like this in Empoli.
Gonzalez received a fair warning for a foul on Cambiaghi in the 4th minute. The Giallorossi were close to scoring in the 7th minute: a free kick taken by Oudin, a header by Pongracic and a providential deflection by Berisha. In the 14th minute Dorgu made a bad mistake in his attempt to intercept a long ball, resulting in a corner kick which Cancellieri jumped on undisturbed, but luckily for Lecce his header went wide.
In the 16th minute Banda goes away to Bereszynski, but doesn’t time the pass well and Sansone, who rushes towards the far post, misses his appointment with the ball. In the 19th minute, Piccoli, served by Dorgu, shoots with first intention, but the shot is out of bounds. The Danish defender risks making a big deal in the 26th minute when Cambiaghi goes away from him, coming face to face with Falcone who manages to block the shot. The resulting corner gives rise to a wonderful opportunity for Luperto who does not hit a ball well placed by Bastoni.
Yellow for the former Maleh in the 37th minute for a foul on Gendrey. In the 41st minute Caputo gets hurt and Shpendi comes on in his place. Same fate for Bereszynski, but in the two minutes of injury time there was no way to bring in Ebuhei and Empoli ended the half momentarily with ten men.
Second half
In the second half, Lecce returns with Gallo replacing Dorgu, author of a decidedly sub-par performance. Empoli immediately sent clear signals: Grassi’s volley from the edge of the area, Falcone’s save on the ground. In the 49th minute the Roman goalkeeper deflects Cancellieri’s close-range shot with his foot: there is still an off-side signal but from the images it is clear that, in the event of a goal, the action would have been seen and reviewed. In the 55th minute, the Lecce goalkeeper once again effectively opposed a great shot from Fazzi. It’s the 59th minute when Rafia and Krstovic take the place of Oudin and Piccoli. Andreazzoli, however, sent Marin onto the pitch in the 63rd minute for Maleh.
The result breaks the deadlock with the most classic of ducks, in the 64th minute: Banda shoots from distance and Berisha misses the catch, allowing the ball to pass under his legs. The mistake is obvious and unforgivable. In Lecce’s action there is however the decisive intervention of Gonzalez who comes away from the opponents, recovering the ball in his own back and then serving his teammate on the left wing. The Catalan will then be recalled to the bench in the 70th minute, with Blin replacing him.
The favorable result seems to shake the Giallorossi for a moment: Rafia calls Berisha to the ground. The Tunisian footballer scores, but in his own goal, in the 72nd minute: on Cambiaghi’s cross his deflection sends the ball first onto the crossbar, then against the post and, finally, into the net. The inertia of the match therefore returns to Empoli’s side who, despite structural limitations, show an appreciable idea of play and a considerable determination: in the 76th minute Cancellieri fails to frame the goal, deflecting Luperto’s header towards the back who in the 78th minute saw a great volley aimed under the crossbar blocked by Falcone.
The Tuscan coach inserts Fazzini and Gyasi for Kovalenko and Cancellieri with the clear intention of trying everything to win the match in the last ten minutes (plus injury time), while D’Aversa in the 86th minute gives space to Kaba by recalling Ramadani after the worst performance of the year of the Albanian. Pongracic kept his guard up by keeping Fazzini’s attempted assist away from the small area and in five minutes of injury time Lecce managed to defuse the home team’s last ambitions.
The scoreboard of Empoli-Lecce 1 to 1
EMPOLI (4-3-3): Berisha; Bereszynski (46′ Ebuhei), Ismajli, Luperto (cap.), Bastoni; Kovalenko (79′ Fazzini), Grassi, Maleh (63′ Marin); Cambiaghi, Caputo (41′ Shpendi), Cancellieri (80′ Gyasi). Available: Perisan, Caprile, Walukiewicz, Cacace, Ranocchia, Destro, Maldini. Coach Andreazzoli
LECCE (4-3-3): Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto (cap.), Pongracic, Dorgu (46′ Gallo); Gonzalez (70′ Blin), Ramadani (86′ Kaba), Oudin (59′ Rafia); Sansone, Piccoli (59′ Krstovic), Banda. Available: Brancolini, Samooja, Venuti, Berisha, Listkowski, Faticanti, Smajlovic, Strefezza, Dermaku, Touba. Coach: D’Aversa
Scorers: 64′ Banda, 72′ aut. Raffia
Booked: 4′ Gonzalez, 37′ Maleh, 51′ Grassi, 75′ Ramadani
Referee: Andrea Colombo; assistants: Di Iorio and Capaldo; fourth official: Manganiello
Var: Gariglio; Var assistant: Valeri
The 15th day
Results: Juventus-Napoli 1 to 0; Lazio-Verona 1 to 1; Atalanta-Milan 3 to 2; Inter-Udinese 4 to 0; Frosinone-Turin 0 to 0; Monza-Genoa 1 to 0; Salernitana-Bologna 1 to 2; Roma-Fiorentina 1 to 1; Empoli-Lecce 1 to 1; Cagliari-Sassuolo 2 to 1.
Ranking: Inter 38; Juventus 36; Milan 29; Rome and Bologna 25; Naples and Fiorentina 24; Atalanta 23; Monza and Lazio 21; Turin 20; Frosinone 19; Lecce 17; Genoa and Sassuolo 15; Cagliari 13; Udinese and Empoli 12; Verona 11; Salernitana 8.
2023-12-11 23:06:03
#Empoli #close #winning
