Goalless between Cittadella and SPAL for the third time in a row
On October 15, 2022 by Jake IovineCittadella and SPAL fought for a 0-0 draw on Saturday afternoon at the Stadio Piercesare Tombolato.
The main story coming into the match was the debut of SPAL’s newly appointed head coach Daniele De Rossi, who begins his coaching career at the Tombolato. De Rossi starts with a point apiece against Edoardo Gorini’s Cittadella.
Cittadella midfielder Mirko Antonucci put on a show last weekend against Brescia, scoring a goal of the week contender to earn a draw. Today, however, he had the opportunity to add to his goal tally not even a minute into the match. From a long ball on a counter attack, Antonucci couldn’t keep his effort on frame as the chance went begging.
Both teams could agree that it wasn’t the best performance from either team. The Granata may have lost the possession battle in the first half, but they held a commanding shot total with eight shots to none. All eight of those shots were off target, which frustrated many players and fans.
Minutes before halftime, Andrea Danzi hit the dressing rooms early as he received a second yellow card following a studs up challenge on Salvatore Esposito. The hosts were now having to play the entire second half with a man less.
Cittadella kept pressing in the second half, and brought on Ignacio Lores Varela in efforts to provide more creativity in the attack. Gorini’s side–despite playing with 10 men–looked more likely to score than the visitors. Cittadella registered 14 shots in the entire game, but only two of those had to be saved by Enrico Alfonso.
Their best chance came about four minutes until the 90th minute mark, when Mamadou Tounkara sprinted onto a through ball that split open the SPAL defense. With a cutback on one defender, Tounkara’s shot had to force a low stop from Alfonso.
As the whistle blew for full-time, a scuffle between Simone Branca and Esposito saw the SPAL midfielder fall to the ground after Branca appeared to touch his face. Having not liked his reaction, Branca stepped onto the side of Esposito’s face, which led for the second red card to be shown on the day. Branca will now miss next weekend’s match against Palermo, and will also await a possible further game suspension for the scuffle.
Playing with 10 men for the entire second half, Cittadella did well to keep SPAL away from Elhan Kastrati’s net. They also lacked finishing in the final third which eventually made the difference. Though a draw after playing with less men on the pitch may feel like a good result, it isn’t the result that Cittadella may have wanted or deserved.
The point lifts the Granata up into 14th place with 10 points, and currently sit four points off a promotion playoff spot.
Top Photo: Massimo Felicetti