The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion keeping it intact in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Rumours that he might quit were without basis, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or collapsing.
The Youngster's Surprising Presence
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, during the summer break, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Billed as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
