The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in an ongoing feud with club owner Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he to later acknowledge that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team lacking backup options.
He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt 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 in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
