Wednesday, Milan Futuro finally got to finish playing a match that began three weeks ago. How is that possible? Well, the fifth round match with Piacenza had already been rescheduled for October 14th, due to the international break. And it actually did start that day. However, the referee was injured and could not continue, so the match was suspended at halftime with the score at 0-0. Because in Serie D, they don't have a contingency plan in case of referee injury. So on Wednesday, November 4th, the match restarted at halftime and finished with a 2-1 win for Milan Futuro. Match, interrupted.
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| Job done, in the second time of asking. |
Oddly enough, the lineups were not the same for the two halves. Navarro's lineups for the first half in October were:
MILAN FUTURO (4-2-3-1) Pittarella; Federico Colombo, Zukić, Malick Cissè, Borsani; Sala, Plazzotta; Ossola, Silvano Vos, Balentien; ans Asanji
MILAN FUTURO SUBSTITUTES: Pacileo; Cappelletti, Pagliei, Perera, Luca Menon, Idrissi, Guernier, Bonomi, Borsa
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| Starting 11, first half, 14th October |
In that first half, Asanji had a shot saved in the tenth minute, Sala was shown a yellow card in the 11th minute, then it was mostly Piacenza, in the 18th minute, Piacenza put a free kick just wide, then forced Pittarella into a big save two minutes later. In the 26th minute, they actually found the back of the net, but it was ruled offside, so no goal. And in the 28th minute, Pittarella made yet another save. So it was still 0-0 at halftime when the match was suspended.
Three weeks later, Navarro lined up a different squad. I'm not sure how that works, usually, teams have to field the same players. But this is Serie D, so who knows? I mean, they did not even use the same referee for both halves.
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| Starting 11, second half, 4th November |
MILAN FUTURO (4-3-3) Pantelin; Cappeletti, Paglei, Malick Cissè, Perera; Pandolfi, Sala, Ossola; Guernier, Asanji, and Silvano Vos
MILAN FUTURO SUBSTITUTES: Pacileo; Cappelletti; Borsani, Idrissi, Plazzotta, Bonomi, Zukić, Borsa
The second half was entirely different, and not just because of a different starting 11. Three weeks later, as other teams are beginning to drop points, Navarro's side is getting stronger, growing together, and they came out with far more confidence than they had played in the first half. In fact, right away, Captain Ossola scored the opening goal with an assist from Perera. 1-0 Milan Futuro.
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| Captain Ossola, leading the way. |
Piacenza grew into the match, and Pantelin had to make a save in the 64th minute. But two minutes later, following a shot from Silvano Vos, Asanji put away the rebound to score Futuro's second goal. 2-0 Milan Futuro. This was Asanji's fourth goal of the season. Federico Colombo replaced Cappelletti, and Zukić replaced Guernier in the 73rd minute. And in the 82nd minute, Borsani replaced Pandolfi. Unfortunately, Raffini pulled one back for Piacenza in the 84th minute. Now it was 2-1 Milan Futuro.
Tempers were flaring, and in the 86th minute, Zukić was shown a yellow card. Borsani replaced Pandolfi, but stoppage time was marred by multiple escalations between the two squads, resulting in yellow cards for both sides, including Idrissi for Milan Futuro. However, when the whistle blew, Milan Futuro had all three points. Brief highlights including both halves of the match are available.
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| Four goals in the season already. |
This win pushed Futuro into third place with 20 points. The four points they lost when their best players were benchwarming for the first team were costly, as Navarro's side would actually be tied for first right now. And it is reasonable to assume, with their current form, that they actually would have taken all three points in those matches, too. It would have been one thing if they had actually played, but losing four points in a season they desperately need promotion only for their best players to watch the first team play kind of stings.
Futuro face the 13th place Virtus Ciserano Bergamo on Sunday, so hopefully they can continue their excellent form, although once again, they are playing at the same time as the first team, so may suffer again if Amorim calls players up to cover his injuries again. At least they were able to take all three points from this very strange match, interrupted.
Milan Futuro vs. Virtus Ciserano Bergamo
Sunday, November 8 • 14:30 CET (8:30am EST)
Sunday, November 8 • 15:00 CET (9:00am EST)