The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or did there exist a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.
The Youngster's Surprising Comeback
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to remain there temporarily. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
