The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Return
At least one man kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived originally during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
