EMPOLI-CATANZARO 1-0
MARKER: 14′ st Shpendi (rig).
EMPOLI (3-5-2): Fulignati 6; Curto 6, Guarino 6.5, Obaretin 6 (1′ st Lovato 7); Elia 6 (41′ st Carboni 6), Yepes 6, Saporiti 6 (25′ st Ilie 5.5), Degli Innocenti 6 (41′ st Haas 6), Moruzzi 6.5; Popov 5, Shpendi 7 (25′ st Pellegri 6). On the bench: Perisan, Gasparini, Nasti, Ceesay, Indragoli, Konate, Bianchi. Coach: Dionisi 6.5. CATANZARO (3-4-2-1): Pigliacelli 6; Cassandro sv (10′ st Bettella 6), Antonini 5.5, Brighenti 6 (32′ st Alesi 5.5); Favasuli 5.5, Rispoli 5.5, Pontisso 5.5 (15′ st Pandolfi 5), Di Chiara 5.5 (15′ st Nuamah 5); Buglio 6 (31′ st Liberali 5), Cisse 5.5; Iemmello 5. On the bench: Marietta, Bashi, Buso, D’Alessandro, Oudin, Petriccione, Pittarello. Coach: Aquilani 5. REFEREE: Galipó from Florence 6. NOTES: Pitch in good condition. Attendance: 6816. Popov sent off in the 43rd minute due to yellow cards. Booked Popov, Obaretin, Brighenti, Bettella, Pigliacelli, Yepes, Fulignati, Alesi. Angles: 2-4. Recovery time: 4′, 5′. (
A penalty from Shpendi gives three platinum points to Empoli who beat Catanzaro and breathes, putting the table in order a little. Catanzaro on the other hand, listless and listless, put an end to the series of consecutive victories. Despite the excellent approach, this too seemed like a haunted match for Dionisi’s team. Little or no emotion in the first half, until the 43rd minute, when Popov naively got booked a second time for a foul on Pontisso and received a red card. The Azzurri are thus forced to play the entire second half with one man less. But in the second half Dionisi’s team didn’t seem to suffer from their inferiority. In the quarter of an hour under the Azzurri’s pressure it was the expert Iemmello’s turn to make a mistake, given that following a free kick from Saporiti he widened his arm in the area. Galipò goes to review it on the monitor and assigns the penalty which Shpendi converts, displacing Pigliacelli. In the end the siege of Catanzaro is vehement but unproductive. Lots of crosses but not even a shot on goal. Thus Empoli brings home three fundamental points that were missing at home even from the first match of the championship against Padova. Catanzaro, on the other hand, must review their offensive propulsion, which was completely lacking in Tuscany.