The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Reports that he could resign were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He completed the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to reduce their roster without replacements.
He joined in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."
Uncovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Billed as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
