The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to work out the exact type of his skill set. Originally described as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
