The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he admitted that the board had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in their other initial five matches, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his owning club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed initially when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, all but one of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was persistently working to determine the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
