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The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.

The Campaign Coming Unstitched?

Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion maintaining its structure to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as head coach this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.

Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.

Matteo's Unexpected Comeback

At least one man remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this season. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.

He joined in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."

Finding His True Position

It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the nature of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn