After the better-seeded teams, nominally the favorites won the first quarterfinal legs in the Italian Futsal Seria A playoff quarterfinals, the underdogs strike back! Three teams that were down after the first leg in the series have now tied the series and all three duels will be decided in a third match.
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Signor Prestito CMB Matera managed to defeat the league runners and defending champions Italservice Pesaro with a 5-4 result. Dovenir Domingues Neto opened the scoring with an own goal and Felipe Tonidandel extended the lead for Pesaro in the opening stage of the match. But Ramon Bueno Ardite, Andrès Santos, and Giovanni Pulvirenti scored three unanswered goals by the end of the first half to put CMB in front at the break.
In the same fashion they opened the match, Pesaro opened the second half, with two goals by Julio Miotti De Oliveira and Humberto Honorio, retaking the lead. But again, in the second part of the half, Ramon Bueno Ardite and Andrès Santos turn things around and secure a big win for CMB!
Sandro Abate Avellino defeated Came Dosson with a 2-1 result to tie their series. Eduardo Dalcin and Marco Ercolessi scored for the Avellino team in the first half for the lead. Arlan Pablo Vieira struck back in the second half for Came Dosson but that was all they managed to pull.
In a dramatic finish, Meta Catania Bricocity defeated Acqua&Sapone Unigross to tie their series. Cristiano Fusari scored for A&S to open the scoring, but just 15 seconds later, Maurizio Silvestri equalized for Catania. Coco Wellington brought another lead for A&S in the second half, but Marko Kuraja equalized for Meta Catania from a free-kick, before Fabinho Rodrigues Da Silva turned things around for Catania.
And then, the drama unfolded. Lukaian Baptista first equalized for A&S just one minute before full time. But thanks to strong pressure from the Catania team, they forced an own goal by Rafael Rizzi Rafinha in the very last second of the match, tying the series!
The fourth duel between Feldi Eboli and Syn-Bio Petrarca was postponed once again due to Covid reasons.
Match highlights will be added in this article once they become available.
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