Finding two goals from the bench is always complicated. Doing it with two players who had never scored before and were used little and nothing is more, a mixture of skill and luck especially if the two in question, Pittarello and Buso, are not even relentless strikers. An episode similar to Vivarini’s “prayer” in the preliminary playoff with Brescia, corrected at the end by the bench player Donnarumma and then corrected by the other reserve Brignola in extra time. That was the last time of a winning substitution pairing (May 18, 2024).
Unlike Brescia, this time Pescara “saw” Aquilani’s play, collecting an unexpected equalizer in the 93rd minute, however the goals of the substitutes can also prove to be a positive sign, in the sense that they could restore – to themselves and to Catanzaro – the confidence that only goals can guarantee. Pittarello and Buso had been the most expensive purchases of the 2024 summer signing campaign: just under two million spent on both (1.2 bonuses included for Pittarello alone), but never truly convincing due to physical problems, poor or out-of-role employment, perhaps some personality limitations. Pittarello had only signed two centers in the last championship, the first at the end of February against Spezia away, the other in Carrara at the beginning of April. The “Ceravolo” was still terrain to conquer for the 29-year-old from Veneto, always generous and sometimes even unlucky, often far from the energetic and incisive version of Cittadella, where Catanzaro took it elbowing to overcome the competition from Spezia. On Friday evening Pittarello finally broke his internal and seasonal fast by collecting Desplanches’s rebound from Frosinini’s header, another starter among the reserves after two months in the box due to injury. Goals aside, the centre-forward’s performance was good, between the usual play on the sidelines for his teammates and the hand-to-hand fight with his opponents. At least number 8 Aquilani had taken him into consideration in nine out of 13 games (but only 451′).
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