The defense works, the attack less so and depends above all on Cisse and Iemmello, in terms of numbers and plays. If Catanzaro is eleventh, one of the reasons is the imbalance between a properly registered defensive department – the fifth least beaten in the championship together with Venezia – and an offensive one which has had several unsuccessful attempts and is thirteenth in the category. Twelve goals conceded but just 13 scored, worse than all those above and even three of their pursuers (Pescara, Sudtirol, Empoli). Since the previous stop, at least from this point of view, there has been no major progress, so it is above all here that Aquilani will have to work in the next few days.
The apathy of the match in Empoli, which ended with just one shot on target (among other things from the defender Bettella), just inside the area, without any obvious chance and with an “expected goals” factor at the season low of 0.29 (meaning that that single shot had a low chance of turning into a goal) is worrying because it comes after three games in which the Eagles had been decidedly more incisive. In Tuscany, the other five shots were all made from outside and never by an attacker. That “more than a step backwards” underlined by the coach evidently also referred to this figure, a far cry from the five shots out of seven between the posts for Venezia, with two goals and three great chances, the 7 out of 19 for Mantua (with three goals) and even the three out of 10 with Palermo (with one goal and three great chances).
Empoli became the fourth outing out of 12 in which the team was left dry after Padova (however with more shots, including the penalty missed by Iemmello), Sampdoria (7 shots on target out of 16) and the match against Spezia on the second day, perhaps the only one similar in terms of quantity – very low – of chances built. Just to better frame the bad day in Tuscany, even in the defeat at Monza Catanzaro had been more concrete with a goal, 4 shots between the posts and, in the end, 10 in total. A third of the championship without scoring is not a great calling card.
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