The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the club had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this year. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team lacking backup options.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
