The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He completed last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Finding His True Position
Maybe Sarri was still trying to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
