The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded ten goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the club had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Return
At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this year. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
