The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a thread holding it together in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for financial irregularities. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team with no new signings.
He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
