Zé Maria overturns Olbia and Olbia overturns Latte Dolce in the final credits, defeated at the “Nespoli” 3-2 in the derby of the 2nd day of the return leg of the Serie D championship.
The new eleven fielded by the Brazilian coach (without the suspended Lorenzo De Grazia and Willis Furtado) against the best Sardinian team in the group managed to show off a good performance and take home 3 points that had been missing since mid-December, climbing up the standings to fourteenth place with 19 points and closing the gap on the safety zone, now 4 points away. "I don't have a defined team", explained Zé Maria in the post-match, "but everyone has played since today. They have to be ready: against Latte Dolce there were five or six changes compared to the normal formation, and those who played did well, a problem that all coaches would like to have".
Among the absolute rookies, the goalkeeper Rosario Rizzitano, born in 1999, stands out. He hadn't played a match since May 2022 and yesterday he showed off his victory-saving save on Kone at the last minute, then going to celebrate under the home curve, which exploded at the final whistle. "It's a technical choice: we needed experience, and even if the boy hadn't played a match as a starter for 2 or 3 years, he has always trained well and has been ready", said Zé Maria, who also commented on the support of the fans. "We need the help of the fans: we can't get out of this situation alone. A step forward was also seen in the standings, we played against a very strong team, which had 10 points more than us, but it's not the turning point match: on Sunday against Guidonia - adds the coach of the whites - another final awaits us".
Among the goalscorers of the Gallura team, in order, Stefano Pani, born in 2002, who scored the 1-0 and his first goal in the Olbia jersey, captain Gianmarco Staffa, with his fifth goal of the season between the league and the Italian Cup, and Pasquale Costanzo, a special mention goes to the latter, who with yesterday's winning goal, scored in the 92nd minute, rises to 6 goals, becoming Olbia's new top scorer.
