The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
