The feeling at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a side that had allowed a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign unraveling, or did there exist a thread holding it together from the beginning? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for financial irregularities. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as they were off it, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they're getting better or self-destructing.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, Lazio were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The transfer ban led to a change of plans. They were unable to thin their squad with no new signings.
He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."
Finding His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was persistently working to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
