The CittaCalcioUsa 2022 year awards
On January 2, 2023 by Jake IovineAs the year comes to a close, we recap and highlight the best, worst, and wildest moments of the year from Cittadella.
It hasn’t been the most ideal year for the Granata, but there were still plenty of good moments followed by many bad moments. In this post, there’ll be five sections of the awards: best team moment, worst team moment, best player, best newcomer, and the craziest moment of 2022.
Best Team Moment: Two huge February wins – February 23rd – 27th
With no playoffs or any significant matches won in 2022 for Cittadella, we have to go back all the way to February for a short period of time when we thought the Granata were ready to surge in the second half of the season.
Coming off a bumpy start to the new year where Cittadella had only won once in their opening six games, Gorini’s side traveled south to face league leaders Lecce. Despite being underdogs, Cittadella managed to get away with a massive 1-2 win at the Via del Mare. Mirko Antonucci scored in the opening seconds of the match, and Mamadou Tounkara finished a break away to put Cittadella into a two goal cushion. They survived a late scare from Lecce, and came back to Veneto with a huge three points.
Just days later on the weekend, Cittadella once again faced playoff rivals Frosinone at the Tombolato. Similar to Lecce, the Granata got off to a flying start, opening and scoring within 20 minutes and adding a double minutes later. Right before halftime, Giacomo Beretta secured his brace as Cittadella went into halftime 3-0 up.
It was two back-to-back wins for Gorini’s side, two wins that puts them in great position heading into the remaining part of the season. These few days brought a lot of joy and optimism to the club, as a playoff push for the sixth time in a row looked likely.
Worst Team Moment: 1-2 home defeat to 9 men Monza – March 5th
Only a weekend after Cittadella’s best week of the year, it all turned horribly wrong for the Granata.
Up against another tough test for Gorini’s side, Monza opened the scoring before Enrico Baldini answered with a penalty to level the scoreline.
Then in the second half, things started to look worse and worse for Monza. Two red cards within a span of four minutes gave Cittadella a two man advantage with 30 minutes left in the game. An opportunity to score another big three points in the playoff charge looked very likely as Cittadella were given this golden opportunity.
Cittadella were trying to break through the defense of 9-men Monza, and were struggling to get the big chance. As stoppage time rolled around, a point apiece looked to be what Cittadella would have to settle for.
What happened in stoppage time was the lowest moment in 2022 for the club. Daniele Donnarumma is slow to send a long ball, forcing Patrick Ciurria in behind on goal. The Monza attacker slotted home the game winner, sending Monza players and their supporters into a frenzy.
Shock, disappointment, and angry flooded the Tombolato as Cittadella were embarrassingly defeated at the expense of 9-men Monza. This was a disaster of a result, one of the worst and most embarrassing in recent memory. The loss not only put Cittadella out of the playoff zone for the moment, it started a whole collapse that they couldn’t recover from.
Since that match, Cittadella could only win two of their remaining 10 fixtures, ending their five year streak of clinching promotion playoffs. The defeat to Monza also seemed to have an effect on players and the mood of the team, who hadn’t looked the same since then.
Cittadella suffered many losses and bad moments throughout the year, but the loss to Monza was by far the biggest and worst of them all. It marked a turning point in both teams’ seasons, as Monza went on to get promoted to Serie A, while Cittadella finished 11th.
Best Player of the Year: Elhan Kastrati – Goalkeeper
The Albanian goalkeeper has established himself as one of the league’s best in 2022. Playing 34 matches this year in goal for Cittadella, Kastrati has been solid all year and has provided many crucial saves to deny the opponent’s shots.
His great performances in Serie B has caught the eye of the Albanian National Team, who called up Kastrati to all team camps throughout the year.
While Cittadella haven’t been where they wanted to be throughout the year, Kastrati was no doubt the best player from start to finish and why he’s deserving of this award.
Best Goal of the Year: Enrico Baldini vs Como – April 9th
Already having scored one goal in the game, Enrico Baldini’s rocket to the upper right corner was enough to win the best goal of 2022 for Cittadella.
No keeper in Serie B is stopping that strike. Swerving midair, the ball rattles the top corner, firing Cittadella into the lead against Como. The Granata went on to win the game 2-1, with the win putting them back into the playoff race towards the latter half of the season.
We can’t wait to see Baldini back from injury and to scoring these wonder goals!
Best Newcomer of the Year: Santiago Visentin
It’s a fair judgement to say Cittadella did not get the transfer market right in 2022. Unlike last year when sporting director Stefano Marchetti pulled out the likes of Mirko Antonucci and Enrico Baldini, he wasn’t able to get the same type of magic from his purchases since January.
That being said, the best newcomer signed in 2022 that has been the best of them all is Santiago Visentin. Still only 23 years old, Visentin played 18 matches across all competitions in 2022.
Signed from Crotone in late January, Visentin did not have much Serie B experience when joining the Granata. Now in the 2022/23 season, the Argentine center back has showed good moments in defending, and has helped the defense close out six clean sheets since August.
Still a relatively young center back, Visentin still has lots of room for improvement, which he’ll be trying to achieve and do better in 2023.
Most Wild Moment of the Year: Pulcinelli vs Cittadella
In just two matches within a span of six months, Ascoli and Cittadella may have created a highly anticipated derby for the next few years.
Back in April, Cittadella played Ascoli for a 0-0 draw, ultimately eliminating them from playoff contention. However, the big story line wasn’t what happened on the field, it happened after off the pitch.
Massimo Pulcinelli, an Ascoli part-owner and patron, criticized the Cittadella’s gameplay on Instagram, claiming they were “wasting time on goal kicks” and so on. This was enough for Cittadella president Andrea Gabrielli to release a statement following Pulcinelli’s comments.
Things got even more heated the last time they played in September. Once again, the match finished 0-0 but both teams had one player sent off, and Cittadella finished the game with 9 men thanks to a stoppage time red card to Dario Del Fabro. At halftime, Ascoli coach Cristian Bucchi and Edoardo Gorini exchanged words as the teams entered the tunnel.
Immediately following the match, Pulcinelli once again expressed his frustration on social media, and it was even more than last time. Pulcinelli posted many comments on his Instagram stories, blaming Cittadella forward Mamadou Tounkara for the injury to keeper Nicola Leali. He also went on to call Cittadella “a rugby team” and attacked Gorini’s post game comments.
That wasn’t all to this drama. It continued in the press room: both Gorini and Bucchi claimed what they heard and said to one another. There was huge drama and chaos off the pitch, and the two teams have started to dislike each other more and more.
Cittadella host Ascoli at the Stadio Piercesare Tombolato on February 4th, a game that feels a lot more important than it maybe should!