The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team 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 most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or did there exist any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he admitted that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "swindled" him.
The Roman club were just as chaotic in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He spent the last one at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to remain there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined initially under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Natural Fit
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
