Spurs 5-1 Man City

Postecoglu’s attacking football paid dividends today as his Spurs team over-ran a City that lacked organization and failed to finish the few chances that they created. Spurs went ahead when City gave away a penalty thanks to the controversial ball-over-the-South-fence penalty rule! Freddie converted, 100% success from the spot for him. Later in the first half, Antonio equalised with an unstoppable shot from 25m out, giving Ashton no chance in the Spurs goal. 

Freddie followed this up in the second half with an assist to put Lorenzo F clear and the 6th-grader cooly slid the ball past Martti for 2-1. A goalmouth scramble following a free kick from the left saw the ball fall to Steve at the far post and he tapped home the third. And it was Steve again who shot home the fourth goal, with Christian rounding off the win with a fifth.

BEST PLAYER: Steve 4, Antonio 3, Freddie, 3, Lorenzo F 3, José 2,  Matteo 2, Christian 1,  Simone 1, Maverick 1, Lupo 1

 

Roma 1-0 Como

 

A full Ambrit Stadium today was treated to an action-packed first half but had to sit through a disappointing second half as Roma did just enough to take the three points.

The only goal of the game came towards the end of the first half. Having soaked up the pressure from their opponents for 10’, Roma attacked and forced a series of corners. From the last of these, an unlucky touch from a Como defender swept the ball past Chloe in the Como goal.

Before that, Como were in charge. Anna came close for with a high lob over the bar and Livia set up a good chance for Maeve but her shot was well-saved by  Sofia All through this first half, Livia had a constant battle with Megan down one side of the pitch and Vittoria N and Carla battled each other through the middle. 

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Vittoria N 3, Megan 2, Livia 2, Carla 2, Aurora 1, Maeve 1, Aissatou 1, Ginevra 1, Sofia 1 

Ipswich 4-4 Spurs

 

Another thrilling game today with the result in doubt right until the final whistle. The teams were level when Junio scored off a free-kick to put Ipswich ahead. Ashton made two good saves from Jacopo shots and then Spurs equalised when a ball out of defence was allowed to run all the way up the pitch until Steve collected it and rolled it past Lucas: 1-1. A lovely passing move from Ipswich saw the ball move quickly from Jacopo to Max but,again, Ashton made the save. Gianluigi had a chance then but he scooped it up and over the bar and the first half ended with a good save from Lucas to keep Lorenzo F out. 

This first half had been characterized by a lot of good running and passing from Jacopo but, on the other side, Raul was doing a fantastic job to shut him down before he could do too much damage. A great battle between two good players.

Not long after the re-start, Freddie hit the post but Ipswich re-took the lead when Jacopo set up Max to score. But almost immediately, Junio fouled in the penalty area and Freddie converted the spot-kick. Freddie was again the protagonist two minutes later, his free kick saved by Lucas but Steve was following up and he buried the rebound to put Spurs ahead for the first time. The Jacopo-Max link up worked again though and Ipswich leveled the game at 3-3. The tit-for-tat scoring continued when Freddie collected a loose ball and hammered it home with his left foot. Spurs tried to hang onto their lead to the end, but Jacopo wasn’t having any of that; another of his long, mazy runs finally ended with a goal to tie the game for the final time.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Raul 4, Jacopo 3, Freddie 3, Steve 2, Ashton 2, Max 2, Giulio R 2, Gabriel 1, Simone 1, Christian 1

RISA friendlies

 Ambrit 3-4 AOSR

A seven-goal thriller to open Ambrit’s RISA season for 2024-25. After conceding an early goal, Ambrit went ahead thanks to two goals from in-form striker Lorenzo G and Ambrit managed to conserve their lead until the half-time break, thanks also to a fantastic clearance off the line by Gabriel. AOSR equalised but Lorenzo G completed his hat-trick in the second half and Ambrit was 3-2 ahead. AOSR equalised again but Lorenzo G came very close to a fourth goal but this time his attempt bounced back off the bar. In the dying seconds, AOSR broke away and scored to win the match.

Ambrit 4-4 St George’s

Unbelievable!!!

St George’s ran away into a four goal lead in the first half. Full credit to Ambrit though, they never lost heart. The torrential rain that came down seemed to wake them up for the second half and Lorenzo G made it 4-1. Diego shot from way outside the box and scored: 4-2. Lorenzo G scored yet again: 4-3. And Noel, making his debut today, flicked home a loose ball to tie the score and seal a great comeback for the boys from Tajani!

Liverpool 4-3 Fulham

 

Fulham traveled to Anfield today for their opening match and they pushed the Reds all the way. It was the home side who started more quickly though, Lorenzo G playing in Filippo for Liverpool’s first goal. Not long after, Filippo brought a great save out of Patrizio but Lorenzo I was on hand to force in the second goal. But Fulham then started to play. Diego found Federico; his shot was pushed out by Rex but then, from the corner, the ball somehow ended up at Diego’s feet and he slotted home: 2-1. Fulham were back on level terms before half-time, a nice move involving Diego, Lorenzo L and Federico ending with the captain burying the ball into the corner of the net.

The second half began with two more long shots from Federico, both dealt with comfortably by Rex. Liverpool then struck on the break through Lorenzo G but Diego equalised with a fantastic shot from 25m out that looped over Rex for 3-3.

Lorenzo Levi almost stole the points for Fulham off a Federico assist but Rex saved again. Lorenzo G did steal the points with a late shot on the turn!

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Federico 4, Lorenzo G 4, Diego 3, Lorenzo I 3, Filippo 2, Mostafa 2, Giovanni Vitt 1, Ryan 1, Patrizio 1

Empoli 0-0 Atalanta

 L'Intramural femminile inizia con un match vigoroso, segnato da un agonismo totale in cui ciascuna giocatrice ha dato il massimo, senza risparmiarsi. Il pareggio appare il risultato più giusto, dopo un primo tempo decisamente a favore dell'Empoli, e una ripresa in cui i maggiori pericoli sono stati creati dall'Atalanta, in particolar modo negli ultimi minuti, con una clamorosa occasione di Suleyma, "ipnotizzata" da Aurora. 

Nell'Empoli, dove oggi era assente il capitano Erin, le ragazze hanno mostrato entusiasmo e buona organizzazione, con le ottime prestazioni di Zoe e Anna in centrocampo, Gracie, Viola e Greta in difesa. Ottimo l'impatto di Caterina nel secondo tempo.

L'Atalanta, dal canto suo, dopo un'iniziale fase di assestamento, è stata abile a riorganizzarsi, grazie alla versatilità del capitano Alessandra e alle generose prestazioni di Sophie, Letizia e Ludovica tra centrocampo e difesa. Ottima anche la partita di Suleyma, che ha sfruttato bene il poco spazio concesso dai difensori avversari.

In generale è stata una partita molto combattuta, ma poco tecnica: quando le ragazze cresceranno nel controllo palla, nel passaggio e nel tiro, i gol non mancheranno!

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Zoe 3, Anna 2, Gracie 2, Alessandra 2, Suleyma 2, Sophie 1, Ludovica 1, Letizia 1, Viola 1, Caterina 1.

Chelsea 3-2 Manchester City

 

What a fantastic game to get the FIGC Premier league off to a great start. City struck first when Maverick pounced on a Chelsea mistake and slotted past Sam for the first goal. Gabriele had the first chance to equalise but he couldn’t sort his legs out in time to turn home a good cross from the left. Maverick almost doubled the lead but Sam made a great save and then Chelsea made ANOTHER mistake in defence to let the City captain in for his second goal. Before half time however, his opposite number scored the best goal of the game: from a free kick, Carlo blasted a rocket from the way out on the right over Martti and into the corner! Boosted by this, Chelsea took the initiative and Claudio equalised on the stroke of half time with a neat shot on the turn.

Less goals but lots of action in the second half. Noel forced a save from Sam, Carlo forced a save from Martti. From a corner, Leopoldo shot well but just too high. Antonio struck the ball perfectly with another shot but, again, Sam was equal to it. Maverick got through on the goalkeeper but dragged his shot wide and both Matteo and Claudio shot over the bar. A draw might have been a fair result… but Claudio wasn't content with a point. A City attack broke down, Chelsea attacked quickly, Claudio scored.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Antonio 4, Maverick 3, Sam 3, Claudio 3, Carlo 3, Matteo 2, Martti 2, Gabriele 1