The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Presence
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were attempting to stay there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
