The mood at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or did there exist a binding element maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
