🔗 Share this article

The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with president Claudio Lotito.

The Campaign Unraveling?

Had their campaign coming unstitched, or was there ever a thread keeping it intact in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he to later acknowledge that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.

Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if progress is being made or imploding.

Cancellieri's Unforeseen Comeback

A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this season. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.

He signed in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in the 2022-23 season, almost all of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom then never playing him."

Discovering His True Position

It's possible the coach was still trying to determine the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn