The atmosphere at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
This Year's Efforts Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were set to be hit with for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized in their performances as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. At any given moment, it has been hard to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback
At least one man remained positive amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his parent club were attempting to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
