The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful 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 last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this year. He completed the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
