The mood at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy in their performances as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the specific characteristics of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
