Cittadella fail to capitalize against 10 men Cremonese

The first loss of the 2021/22 season took place in Cremona as Cittadella are shutout by a short-handed Cremonese.

Despite a strong start to the match by the Granata, Cremonese’s stern defense and efficient attack were enough for a 2-0 win.

It was always going to be a tough match, away in the heat of Cremona. Cittadella started the game strongly, and nearly scored in the first quarter of an hour. Nicola Pavan was set up perfectly after a rebounded cross. The central midfielder bicycle kick effort was parried away brilliantly by Carnesecchi. It was a well hit shot followed by a great save.

Just ten minutes later, a sequence of passes led Cremonese striker Buonaiuto through on goal. Having slipped through the back line, his hard shot was no match for Elhan Kastrati. It put the hosts in front against the run of play.

Cittadella never got a great chance for the rest of the half, and went into the break down a goal. Trailing by a goal, they came out on the front foot to try and get an early second half goal.

“We played an excellent first half with fairly clear opportunities, unfortunately we weren’t able to put it in. Then in the second half, absurdly, we struggled more when they remained outnumbered.” Edoardo Gorini discussed after the match. “They were also good at breaking up the game and wasting time and we couldn’t get it back on its feet. However, we weren’t good at understanding what had to be done, we had to try to go more on the outside and make the ball go faster, the substitutions were made precisely in function of that.”

Cittadella’s chances were increased by a lot in the 56th minute. Benedetti passed Jaime Baez on the left flank, and an apparent swat to the face persuaded the referee to give the Uruguayan a second yellow card. That exact same free kick, Baldini whipped in a dangerous ball, which just missed the head of Davide Adorni.

It was there for the taking. Cittadella pushed for the equalizer up a man. The Cremonese defense did not break, and the real blow for the Granata came in the 73rd minute. A miss-controlled touch from Domenico Frare sent Vido through on goal. The former Cittadella striker slotted the ball pass Kastrati, and put the game beyond the reach of Citta.

It just never looked like Cittadella would get their goal after Frare’s mistake. They had opportunities to go forward, but never truly tested the keeper. The one really good chance came far to late, when another bicycle kick was saved again by Carnesecchi. This time it was Giacomo Beretta who got the bike off, and from a closer range than Pavan’s attempt, the striker was denied.

A frustrating afternoon for everyone involved. Missed chances and defensive errors proved to be the difference between Cremonese and Cittadella. Despite out-shooting the home team by 14-4, the scoreboard is the stat that matters. It’s a very similar story to previous years, where Cittadella dominates the tempo and rhythm, but end up losing via a preventable goal.

The team still has a long way to go this season, and question marks still float around the club. Cittadella are back home next weekend as they take on Pordenone.