First match and first win for Inzaghi
In the first match under manager Simone Inzaghi, a Klose brace and a Felipe Anderson goal give the new arrival his first win.
Also on this day: April 10, 1960, Lazio Palermo 2-1. Lazio manage to beat Palermo and keep Serie A survival hopes alive. Player of the day: Bruno Franzini
The season so far
The previous season had seen Lazio arrive third and qualify for the Champions League playoff. It was a great year and the Biancocelesti played really well so there was hope that it could be repeated.
The summer transfer window however, was not what the fans had hoped for. A few of the older players were let go, so Lazio said goodbye to Cristian Ledesma, Lorik Cana, Diego Novaretti and Michael Ciani plus the younger ones who had disappointed such as Pedro Cavanda and Brayan Perea. In came Wesley Hoedt, Riccardo Kishna, Patric and a young Serb, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
The first game of the season was in August, the Super Coppa against Juventus, played in Shanghai. No contest and Lazio were beaten 2-0 on an appalling pitch. The Biancocelesti’s form was pretty terrible but the focus was on the Champions League playoff against Bayer Leverkusen.
In front of a packed Olimpico, Lazio played really well in the first leg and won 1-0. They could/should have scored more but some players were still a bit behind physically. The problem was that Miroslav Klose got injured in the first half and at that time Lazio did not have a centre forward who could replace him. The return match against Bayer Leverkusen was a defensive nightmare. Manager Stefano Pioli decided to “experiment” a 3-4-3 formation instead of the classic 4-4-2. As a consequence, Lazio lost 3-0 so they were relegated to Europa League.
Things went relatively well there and Lazio went through to the second round after winning their group against Dnipro, Saint Etienne and Rosenborg. The Biancocelesti were however eliminated in Coppa Italia. After beating Udinese, they lost to Juventus again in the quarter-finals.
One could see immediately that Lazio were having problems and they were not playing as well as 2013-14. Narrow wins and heavy defeats (4-0 against Chievo, 5-0 against Napoli), players who were not performing as well as the previous year (Felipe Anderson for example) or other fundamental pieces that Lazio lost through injury (Stefan de Vrij) all led to a disappointing season so far. At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were 9th. They had lost the derby, at home to Milan and away to Juventus. The only positive result was a win away against Inter. Champions League qualification was 12 points away, Europa League four.
The beginning of the second half of the season followed in the footsteps of the first. To make matters worse was the incredible elimination from the Europa League. Lazio had played really well in Europe and after the group stage had to play against Galatasaray in February. 1-1 away and a comfortable 3-1 win at home. Next up was Sparta Prague. There was optimism after drawing the away leg 1-1. And then the debacle that nobody expected. Lazio lost 3-0 at home. A collapse.
The inconsistency and bad form of some of the players came to a culmination with the 4-1 loss in the derby two weeks later. Lazio actually did not play too badly and were unlucky, hitting the woodwork twice when they were 2-1 down.
President Claudio Lotito decided that it was time for a change and sacked Pioli. Simone Inzaghi, former player of the 2000 scudetto, had already been helped considerably by Lazio in his career as a manager. The club really believed in his abilities and had given him various youth teams in order to gain experience. The time was ripe for the big jump and he took over.
Today was the first game under the new management.
The match: Sunday, April 10, 2016, Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo
It took Lazio just ten minutes to score the first goal of the match. Lucas Biglia took a corner, cross in the box for Marco Parolo surrounded by Palermo defenders. Nobody managed to get a good connection, the stray ball then reached Miro Klose who with a low right volley beat Stefano Sorrentino.
Palermo at this point disappeared and Lazio had numerous chances. In the 13th minute Keita Balde from the left moved central and tried a shot, Sorrentino saved into corner. Shortly after Klose stole a ball from the Rosanero defence, Antonio Candreva tried a shot, the goalkeeper saved. In the 15th minute Keita dribbled past a couple of defenders and from the extreme right of the box tried a shot. Sorrentino parried but the ball took on a strange high trajectory and Klose headed the ball in for Lazio’s second of the evening.
The Palermo fans were not pleased and started to throw firecrackers on the pitch. The game had to be stopped for a few minutes. This however was not enough to wake up the local players. In the 29th minute an unstoppable Keita again dribbled a few players and sent an inviting pass into the box, Candreva was taken by surprise and could not get a good connection and the defenders cleared. In the 43rd minute Eddy Onazi to Keita who dribbled past Sorrentino and took a shot but Giuseppe Pezzella saved on the line.
In the 54th minute Candreva on the right went past Giuseppe Pezzella and from a difficult angle tried a shot that Sorrentino parried but the ball spun up in the air and went back to the Lazio winger. His volley shaved the post.
More smoke bombs fell on the pitch and the game had to be suspended again. This time the home team seemed more eager to do something and in the 67th minute Alberto Gilardino passed to Gaston Brugman outside the box but central, Federico Marchetti saved.
But it was short lived. In the 73rd minute long pass from Marchetti, Klose managed to head the ball forward to Felipe Anderson who entered the box and made it 3-0.
Antonino La Gumina had a couple of chances to reduce the deficit but his first shot in the 76th minute was saved into corner by Marchetti, and his second in the 84th, after an attempted clearance by Santiago Gentiletti ricocheted off the Palermo forward, went out by a whisker.
Great win from Lazio, terrible performance by Palermo.
Who played by Palermo
Sorrentino, Vitiello, Gonzalez, Andelkovic, Pezzella, Morganella (52' La Gumina), Jajalo, Hiljemark, Lazaar (37' Brugman), Quaison (74' Trajkovski), Gilardino.
Substitutes: Posavec, Alastra, Rispoli, Cionek, Chochev, Balogh, Maresca.
Manager: Novellino.
Who played for Lazio
Marchetti, Patric, Bisevac, Gentiletti, Lulic (76’ Mauricio), Onazi, Biglia, Parolo, Candreva, Klose (78’ Djordjevic), Keita (69’ Felipe Anderson)
Substitutes: Guerrieri, Matosevic, Matri, Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Mattia, Murgia, Germoni
Manager: Inzaghi
Referee: Gervasoni
Goals: 10’ Klose, 15’ Klose, 72’ Felipe Anderson
What happened next
The good start, with a few tactical changes, was backed up by another win against Empoli but then followed by defeats in Turin against Juventus and away to Sampdoria where Lazio had a million chances to win. Lazio then won two out of three of the last matches but it was too late.
Goodbye to Europe and goodbye to Miro Klose who made his final appearance for Lazio against Fiorentina in the last game of the season. Lazio had no intention of renewing his contract and it did not seem that he was interested in continuing.
The player with most appearances was Felipe Anderson (47) and top scorer was Candreva with 12 goals.
Lazio 2015-16
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 52 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 |
Champions League | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 |
Europa League | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 18 |
Super Coppa | 1 | - | - | 1 | - |
Total | 53 | 22 | 13 | 18 | 73 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Felipe Anderson | 47 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
Candreva | 44 | 30 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
Parolo | 40 | 31 | - | 2 | 7 | - |
Keita Balde | 39 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - |
Lulic | 39 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 6 | - |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Candreva | 12 | 10 | - | 2 |
Felipe Anderson | 9 | 7 | - | 2 |
Klose | 8 | 7 | - | 1 |
Matri | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
Parolo | 6 | 3 | - | 3 |
Djordjevic | 6 | 3 | - | 3 |
Let's talk about Santiago Gentiletti
Santiago Gentiletti was born on January 9, 1985, in Gödeken in Argentina. He started playing football for Gimnasia La Plata and went through all the various youth levels, debuting on April 9 2005 against Velez Sarsfield. In four years, he made 57 appearances with one goal. In 2008 he was loaned to Provincial Osorno in Chile but played very little, just 8 games with one goal. In 2009 he played for O’Higgins again in Chile where he made 31 appearances with one goal.
His big break came in January 2010 when he signed for Argentinos Juniors. In his first year he won the Clausura championship. Two years and 58 games later (with two goals) he then went for the European experience and was loaned to Brest. But the team was not competitive and he played just 17 games, with two goals. He went back to Argentina and signed for San Lorenzo. He stayed for two years, won an Apertura championship and made 73 appearances with three goals.
In 2014 he signed for Lazio. His first game was against Cesena on September 14 and he really impressed. Everybody was pleased with the purchase, but in his second match in Genoa he got seriously injured and was out for six months. He returned towards the end of the season. The Biancocelesti came third and qualified for the Champions League playoff (which they lost). All the promise of his initial game was lost as Lazio did not do as well and neither did he. He was sold to Genoa but in two years made just 24 appearances. In 2018 he signed for Albacete in the Spanish second tier and a year later he returned to Argentina to play for Newell’s Old Boys. He played for a year before another serious injury interrupted his career. After a year without playing in 2021 he decided to retire.
He was a very good defender, not particularly quick, but with a great sense of position. Unfortunately, his injury in his second match maimed his Roman spell and his career. With Lazio he made 33 appearances with one goal.
Lazio Career
Season | Total apperances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2015-16 | 6 (1) | 5 (1) | 1 | - | - | - |
2016-17 | 27 | 19 | - | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Total | 33 (1) | 24 (1) | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Sources
Comments