Pro patria beats Varese 5-2 in the Coppa Italia

Context

TL;DR

• Pro Patria beats Varese 5-2 at the Franco Ossola.
• Maistrello, Mapelli and Bonaidi make it 3-0.
• Gallotti and Castellucchio bring Varese back to 2-3.
• In the round of 32, Pro will face Leon.

Key facts

• → Pro Patria Result 5, Varese 2
• → Franco Ossola Stadium, Masnago
• Serie D Italian → Cup Competition
• Next round → Sixteenth against Leon
• Opening hours → Wednesday at 3pm
• Last Derby → 14 March 2010

Varese tried, but Pro Patria did not forgive Franco Ossola. The tigers won 5-2 in Masnago, winning the passage to the sixteenth round of the Italian Cup Series D, where they will face Leon. The race produced many nets, but also an obvious difference in the quality of the roses and in the concreteness under the goal.

The advantage built in the first half

The first half showed two distinct attitudes. Varese tried to take advantage of the restarts and built some interesting plots, while Pro Patria appeared more maneuvering. To see the first conclusion it was necessary to wait for the 12': Favale engaged Gnonto with a left-handed man from outside, rejected in a dive by the tigrotto goalkeeper. The Pro responded with a head shot of Maistrello finished over the crossbar and with a crossbar of Nanni neutralized on the ground by Mangano.

At 20' the red-whites had the sharpest opportunity of the first part. Del Señor hit a nice corner, Sovogui stretched the head ball and Dodaj, stationed in the goal area, sent a high breath. Four minutes later De Ponti, in an attempt to get ahead of Maistrello on a Bonaidi cross, risked the own goal. From the next action, on the developments of the corner, Maistrello could not turn Nanni's cross towards the door.

The striker came back in 26', unlocking the challenge with a left-handed man of first intention who beat Mangano. The double came in the 31st minute, when Mapelli found the detour under goal, celebrating the former's classic goal. The double disadvantage did not stop Varese, who continued to look for the play in the last meters. At 42' Cogliati twisted the left-handed man; shortly after Favale, from a good position, did not frame the door with his right. In the recovery Mapelli and then Cannistrà rejected the off-white initiatives, sending the teams to the interval with the Pro Patria ahead 2-0.

Operational details

The second half and the derby context

The second half quickly changed the score. Varese started with greater initiative and came close to risking an own goal when Cannistrà misplaced a pass to Gnonto. The goalkeeper came out, and the ball went out for a corner after grazing the post. The corner led to another dangerous situation, with the ball bouncing in the area, but once again the red-and-whites lacked the decisive finish.

From 3-0 to 3-2

Pro Patria reacted in the most effective way possible. On the counterattack, Bonaidi beat Mangano with a shot from the heart of the area, putting the Tigrotti 3-0 up. Varese did not give up and, at 10' in the second half, coach Ciceri brought on Castellucchio for Tronci and Gallotti for Sovogui.

The substitution paid off immediately. Gallotti scored with the first ball he touched: Gnonto misplaced a pass, Favale intercepted it and set up the young forward, who scored with a diagonal left-footed shot. The goal narrowed the gap and put the red-and-whites back in the match. Varese continued to push; Castellucchio then scored the temporary 2-3 with a wayward cross, reopening the contest even further.

The teams had lined up in different formations. Varese had opted for a 4-3-3, with Del Signore as the playmaker alongside Malinverno and Piantoni, while Favale, Sovogui and Cogliati played up front. Zironelli responded with a 3-4-3, with Nanni, Maistrello and Siega leading the attack. The red-and-white comeback highlighted Pro Patria's lapse in concentration after the third goal, but Varese's efforts fell short of completing the comeback.

A derby returning after sixteen years

The match in Masnago also marked the derby's return after sixteen years. The last meeting had been on 14 March 2010, when Sannino's team had beaten the blue-and-whites coached by the late Vincenzo Cosco 3-1. Varese would then be promoted to Serie B at the end of the season, while Pro Patria would end the campaign with a bitter relegation. More than 6000 days have passed since then, marked by the ups and downs of the two clubs, with promotions and bankruptcies along the way.

The historic occasion, however, did not have a fitting setting. The kickoff scheduled for 15:00 on Wednesday, during working hours, and the inability to buy tickets in person left the Franco Ossola almost empty: there were about one hundred fans in the grandstand, while a dozen occupied the away section. The source describes the ticket-sales policy as in need of review and observes that a match between two historic rivals was reduced to a show for a select few.

Key points

What happens after 5-2

The ending that set the result

After Varese's 2-3, the match remained open until stoppage time, but the red-and-white push did not come to fruition. Late on, Pro Patria first extended its lead with Gianola's penalty, awarded for De Ponti's hold on Frattini. Shortly afterward, Frattini himself put the match to bed: he stole the ball from De Ponti and scored the goal that made it 5-2, the final score.

The double incident completed a match in which Pro Patria knew how to strike at decisive moments. Varese had reopened the game after trailing by three goals, but failed to turn the comeback into a positive result. For the tigrotti, on the other hand, the victory means progressing to the next round of the Coppa Italia di Serie D.

The Coppa makes way for the league

With the Coppa Italia interlude over, Pro Patria will face Leon in the round of 32. The match played at Franco Ossola was the round-of-64 tie and represented the first knockout fixture before the two teams' league double-header. The next Coppa stage is therefore already set, although the source does not indicate the date of the match.

For Varese, the return to league action will once again be at Franco Ossola, where Oltrepò will arrive. The red-and-white team will have to try to turn the page after the defeat in Crema and the one suffered against Pro Patria. The next home fixture will thus mark the transition from the knockout competition to the need to get the league campaign back on track.

Pro Patria, meanwhile, will be at the Speroni against Sant'Angelo. The stated objective is to try to close the gap on Pistoiese, who on the same day showed that they are not unbeatable by losing at home to Sestri Levante. Pistoiese's result therefore opens up a different outlook for the tigrotti's campaign, as they are called to continue the league after advancing in the Coppa.

The schedule therefore sends both teams toward a new home fixture, but with different opponents and objectives: Varese will host Oltrepò to respond to its last two defeats, while Pro Patria will welcome Sant'Angelo with an eye on the gap to Pistoiese. The Masnago clash thus ends 5-2, but for the two rivals the league starts again immediately.

Source: varesenews.it