The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to work out the nature of the player's talent. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
