The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
