The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He spent the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
