The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in ten goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Reports that he might quit were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio were just as chaotic in their performances as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player remained positive through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, Lazio were attempting to remain there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Natural Fit
Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
