League

Arena Khimki
Spectators: 7667 (Terracing: 5792, Seating: 1775, VIP seats: 100) CSKA Roma's Achille Pantano started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. The audience was convinced that Alberigo Cicchetti's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Bruno Pietropaolo was relentless in the 3rd minute of the game. Bruno Pietropaolo made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Corrado Ricciuti in the 9th minute of play. Franco Lozzi blasted a shot towards the goal in the 11th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Carter Corvi having to make a save. Carter Corvi took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Achille Pantano, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. When Angelo Pelliccioni fell near the penalty area in the 13th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Alessandria FC's protests and gave Angelo Pelliccioni a yellow card for diving instead. In the 13th minute, Angelo Pelliccioni hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Bruno Pietropaolo showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Corrado Ricciuti in the 29th minute of the match. Alberigo Cicchetti received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 31st minute. Bruno Pietropaolo tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 32nd minute Alberigo Cicchetti shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Bruno Pietropaolo saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After some fancy dribbling in the 40th minute, Achille Pantano managed to get in a good position for a shot. CSKA Roma's supporters rose to their feet, but Achille Pantano was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Carter Corvi breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The home fans were very happy to see their team leading 1-0 at half-time.

Alberigo Cicchetti struck a weak shot in the 53rd minute. Bruno Pietropaolo didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Alessandria FC. An unexpectedly hard shot by Franco Lozzi in the 57th minute of play forced Alessandria FC's goalkeeper Carter Corvi to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Fabiano Zappacosta hit a great freekick 60 minutes into the match. In the 61st minute of the match Domenico Farese shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but Bruno Pietropaolo showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. Achille Pantano struck a weak shot in the 64th minute. Carter Corvi didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for CSKA Roma. When Franco Lozzi came up free with the goalie in the 69th minute, the CSKA Roma fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Franco Lozzi couldn't finish the play. Domenico Farese's late challenge caught a CSKA Roma's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Domenico Farese helped the player get up and apologised. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 71st minute of the game. One of Alessandria FC:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of CSKA Roma:s goal. When the match had gone on for 80 minutes, Federico Ruggieri put it in 2-1 from a short distance just to the right of Bruno Pietropaolo. Emanuele Ritacco's late challenge caught a Alessandria FC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Emanuele Ritacco helped the player get up and apologised. The supporters of Alessandria FC booed when CSKA Roma was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 84 match minutes in a wonderful position. Emanuele Ritacco didn't get a good kick on the ball. Fulvio Giordani hit a great freekick 89 minutes into the match. The audience thought a goal was coming when Angelo Pelliccioni got free with Bruno Pietropaolo in the 95th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. 98 minutes into the match, CSKA Roma's goalkeeper Bruno Pietropaolo had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Alberigo Cicchetti. The referee blew his whistle, and the match came to a close. The players exchanged shirts and headed down the tunnel. The CSKA Roma fans cheered their team off the field, for while Alessandria FC had put up a good fight, they were unable to come out of the game with any points to show for their effort.