The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a thread holding it together in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to ascertain if they're getting better or collapsing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there for another season. The signing restriction forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
