The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Unforeseen Presence
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to feature for Lazio this season. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. 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 then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
