The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they're getting better or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, Lazio were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of the player's talent. Billed as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
