Serie C, playoffs: Padua-Catanzaro, Palermo-Feralpisalò

The final promotion is therefore Padua-Palermo. These are the verdicts of the return of the playoff semifinals of C. Gone in Veneto on June 5th, return to Sicily on 12th.

Padua at 97 ‘

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At the last breath, the magic of Cosimo Chiricò on a free kick sends Padova into the final and stops the Catanzaro race. At the Euganeo it ends 2-1, after 97 intense minutes that saw Massimo Oddo’s team recover from a very complicated start and cross the finish line with a comeback. When extra time seemed one step away. The first ring is from Ronaldo, who starts a right that ends just above the crossbar. Padova shows up again in the opposing area with a header from Santini, but a flash in the half hour breaks the balance on the other side. On an effective restart by Verna, Vandeputte cuts inside and serves the former Biasci: the shot hits the silhouette of Gasbarro, but on the close retort Sounas arrives to insert Donnarumma. Catanzaro forward, but the reaction is immediate: Branduani in a low exit stops Santini’s personal action, then Bifulco and Germano try to reiterate on goal finding the double rescue of Cinelli with the door unguarded.

WINNING CHANGES

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At the interval Oddo changes the external players: inside Curcio for Germano – warned and often aimed at by the indiavolato Vandeputte -, with Kirwan brought back to the right on his strong foot. The Padova starts the recovery better than the opponents and with the usual Bifulco (control in dribbling and shooting) has another chance for the draw. Oddo’s moves – Jelenic also enters – seem to immediately produce positive effects. In the whirlwind of changes, both the play holders (Ronaldo and Cinelli) and Padova are out with an offensive propensity with Ceravolo in place of Valentini to draw a sort of 4-2-4. The pressure rises: Dezi tries first on an inactive ball pattern, then it is Curcio – good at escaping the marking, on a corner kick – to hit his head in front of the goal, leaving Branduani no way out. Draw that returns to a draw (1-1), after the on field review in which Rutella evaluates the position of Jelenic (offside) in the vicinity of the goalkeeper as non-interfering. The tension, even between the benches, tends to rise while Bombagi (a profitable move by Vivarini) rekindles the Catanzaro bringing it close to a new advantage. The definitive turning point, however, comes in full recovery: do it at the edge of the Scognamillo area on Ajeti, a juicy free-kick for Chiricò who makes the left turn by putting it at the intersection. Padua in the final, with the synthesis entrusted to Chiricò himself to the microphones of Eleven Sports: “Even when we go under, this team never dies”.

Palermo, as expected

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Everything as expected: Palermo locks the qualification, already concrete after the 3-0 away match of the first leg. Feralpisalò also beaten in the second act (1-0), in a Barbera sold out in the third consecutive sold out (35,037 tickets sold out) and ready to be rekindled on 12 June: the rosanero, in fact, will have the opportunity to play at home the second leg final against Padua. The success – taking advantage of an incorrect defensive disengagement – was signed before the interval by the top scorer Matteo Brunori, with the goal number 28 in the season and returned to rejoice in his stadium where he had not scored for almost two months. One step away from expiration, after a crossbar hit by Somma, Feralpisalò is denied by the Var the equal goal (however useless) achieved by the young Primavera striker Khadim Dieng. Relaxed climate, thanks to the access to the final never questioned: Stefano Vecchi’s team was greeted by the applause of Barbera, having taken the field in the warm-up with a special jersey dedicated to Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino “to send a message of legality and union – we read on the club’s social channels – in the fight against the mafia from North to South “. Palermo thus gives itself another night of celebration and the opportunity to play Serie B in two games. Outcome in which – it must be acknowledged – Silvio Baldini believed from the very first step in these playoffs.