The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Presence
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He completed the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, Lazio were attempting to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
