Lazio beats everybody in Florence
A dramatic match, Lazio behind twice, absurd refereeing decisions, hostile crowd, but the Biancocelesti manage to pull through and secure the win.
Also on this day: April 18, 1915, Lazio Roman 2-1. Lazio beat Roman and join the Giallorossi at the top of the table of the semi-final group. Player of the day: Renato Grasselli
The season so far
The summer transfer window had seen the arrival of Adam Marusic, Felipe Caicedo, Liverpool legend Lucas Leiva and Manchester United legend Nani. Goodbye Wesley Hoedt, Lucas Biglia and Keita Balde.
The season kicked off to a good start. Lazio managed to beat Juventus in the Italian Super Cup with a goal in the dying seconds from youngster Alessandro Murgia. Doubles from Ciro Immobile and Paolo Dybala had made the game 2-2.
In Campionato, despite a goalless draw at home against Spal in the opening game, Lazio were doing quite well. Big victories (6-1 against Sassuolo and 5-1 away to Benevento) plus the surprise win in Turin against Juventus with Thomas Strakosha saving a penalty in the last second.
This was the first season with the introduction of the VAR, the video assistant referee, which should have brought in fewer mistakes from the men in black. Should, because starting from the derby in November, Lazio were certainly not helped by the new system. The Roma penalty was very dubious (Lazio lost), the penalty given to Fiorentina the next game was non-existent (and Lazio drew), the penalty not given to Lazio against Torino was massive and the Immobile sending off ridiculous (Lazio lost). The limit was reached against Milan in January. Milan’s first goal came off a handball, but nobody noticed. This cost Lazio many points which could have allowed them to be much higher up.
After ten games Lazio were third with Juventus, behind Napoli and Inter, at the end of the first half of the season 4th. They went through a spell of three bad games from the game against Milan to February 19 but they recovered and were third together with Roma and one point above Inter. Lazio’s objective was, as usual, a place in the next season’s champions league.
In Coppa Italia Lazio passed the quarter finals and lost to Milan on penalties in the semi-final after two goalless draws.
In Europa League Lazio sailed through the group stage winning the first four games and securing a place in the knockout round early. They then beat Steaua Bucarest and Dynamo Kyiv and faced Red Bull Salzburg in the quarterfinals. After having won the first leg at home 4-2, they collapsed in Austria 4-1 and were knocked out.
The match: Wednesday, April 18, 2018, Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
The game was a must win for Lazio if they wanted to keep Champions League hopes alive. And it seemed to start downhill for the Biancocelseti when the Fiorentina goalkeeper Marco Sportiello in the 7th minute was sent off. There was a long ball on the right wing for Ciro Immobile, Sportiello came out of the box and tried to kick it away but de facto passed it to Ciro who crossed and the Viola goalkeeper stopped the ball with his hands, but out of the area. The referee Damato was forced to send him off. But a doubt had entered his mind that maybe he could have been a bit more lenient.
In the 14th minute there was another game changer. Corner for Lazio, Martin Caceres headed the ball towards the top left hand corner and the substitute goalkeeper Bartłomiej Drągowski managed to catch it at the second attempt. Long pass forward to Enrico Chiesa who had to face Alessandro Murgia, thrown in after Marco Parolo got injured while preparing for this game. Chiesa did everything he possibly could to get a foul and literally dived at Murgia in the hope of getting the ref to send him off. It worked. Despite the fact that from the footage it was clear that Murgia was not looking at Chiesa and that it was the Viola player who ran towards Murgia looking for a foul, and despite the Lazio midfielder being miles away from the penalty box, he got a red card for a last man foul. Both teams were now with ten players.
The free kick was taken by Jordan Veretout and, if one knows how things often pan out with Lazio, 1-0 for Fiorentina.
The Biancocelesti reacted immediately and in the 18th minute Stefan De Vrij had a chance. Marusic passed to the Dutch defender, immediate shot which beat Drągowski but German Pezzella saved on the line.
In the 25th minute Simone Inzaghi substituted De Vrij with Felipe Anderson and, just like Fiorentina seven minutes earlier, passed to a 4-4-1 formation. In the 27th minute, Lazio on the counterattack. Felipe Anderson sprinted down the right wing, once he was in the penalty box ball to Immobile but the Lazio centre forward was walled by Nikola Milenkovic.
The situation worsened in the 31st minute. Enrico Chiesa on the left passed the ball to Cristiano Biraghi, Luiz Felipe tried to intercept and it looked as if he got to the ball first but the ref instead decided it was a foul and therefore a penalty. Veretout made no mistake and the Viola were two up.
Lazio needed to do something and there was a probable penalty for the Biancocelesti in the 36th minute. Lucas Leiva received the ball on the centre right just outside the box and ran in. He was blocked by Fiorentina defenders but despite the penalty being rather obvious, the ref decided it was a corner.
In the 39th minute there was a free kick for Lazio. Splendid curling shot from Luis Alberto and the Biancocelesti reduced the deficit. In the first minute of injury time, Lazio equalised. Corner for Lazio, splendid cross by Luis Alberto, Caceres jumped higher than everybody else and headed the ball into the net. At the end of the first half 2-2.
In the 49th minute Jordan Lukaku crossed, the Fiorentina defence cleared, ball to Marusic outside the box, his volley was saved comfortably by Drągowski. Fiorentina scored in the 53rd minute with Giovanni Simeone but after a VAR check it was disallowed because the son of the former Lazio hero was in offside. A minute later though Fiorentina made it three. Veretout stole a ball off Leiva, dribbled past Luiz Felipe and scored.
Lazio again reorganised and first a penalty for Lazio was not given in the 60th minute because after a VAR check Immobile was found in offside, then a wonderful curling shot from King Ciro in the 67th was just a whisker too high. A minute later Simeone had a chance from a favourable position but Strakosha saved.
In the 70th minute Lazio equalised. Marusic on the right passed the ball to Felipe Anderson outside the box but dead centre. His marvellous shot was low, powerful and angled, nothing Dragowski could do.
Three minutes later the Biancoclesti made it four. Luis Alberto to Marusic on the right, low cross towards the centre of the box and splendid tap in by the Spaniard.
Fiorentina attacked, Lazio resisted and brought home the three points.
A fundamental win, Champions League is there for the taking.
Who played for Fiorentina
Sportiello, Milenkovic, Pezzella, Victor Hugo, Biraghi, Veretout, Dabo, Chiesa, Eysseric (9’ Dragowski), Gil Dias (79’ Saponara), Simeone (70’ Falcinelli)
Substitutes: Cerofolini, Laurini, Gaspar, Olivera, Benassi, Hristov, Ranieri, Gori
Manager: Pioli
Who played for Lazio
Strakosha, Luiz Felipe, de Vrij (25’ Felipe Anderson), Caceres, Marusic, Murgia, Leiva, Milinkovic-Savic, Lukaku (72’ Lulic), Luis Alberto, Immobile (87’ Caicedo)
Manager: Inzaghi
Referee: Damato
Goals: 16’ Veretout, 31 Veretout (pen), 39’ Luis Alberto, 45+1 Caceres, 54’ Veretout, 70’ Felipe Anderson, 73’ Luis Alberto
What happened next
With three games to play, Lazio had a four-point lead over Inter in 5th place but Immobile was injured. They drew at home the first game and Inter reduced the deficit to two points. In the penultimate game Lazio had to win against struggling Crotone but only managed to draw. So did Inter, so the final game at the Olimpico against the Nerazzurri was decisive.
With 12 minutes to go Lazio were winning 2-1, but Inter managed to score two goals in 4 minutes and Lazio had to settle for Europa League. A big blow.
Lazio 2017-18
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 89 |
Coppa Italia | 4 | 2 | 2 | - | 5 |
Europa League | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 26 |
Super Coppa | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 |
Total | 55 | 31 | 13 | 11 | 123 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Strakosha | 53 | 38 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
Leiva | 50 | 36 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
Lulic | 50 | 35 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
Milinkovic-Savic | 48 | 35 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
de Vrij | 47 | 36 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
Immobile | 47 | 33 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
Luis Alberto | 47 | 34 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Immobile | 41 | 29 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
Milinkovic-Savic | 14 | 12 | - | 2 | - |
Luis Alberto | 12 | 11 | - | 1 | - |
Felipe Anderson | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | - |
de Vrij | 7 | 6 | - | 1 | - |
Let's talk about Martin Caceres
Martin Caceres played only 18 games for Lazio but has had a lengthy career and is one of the most important Uruguayan players.
He was born in Montevideo on April 7, 1987. He started his career with Defensor Sporting and at only 19 years of age he became captain. In February 2007 he signed for Villareal who immediately loaned him to Recreativo de Huelva for the rest of the season plus the next. In June 2008 he signed with Barcelona. He did not play much, 24 games in all three competitions, but contributed to the winning of the treble (Liga, Copa del Re and Champions League).
In 2009 he was loaned to Juventus. Despite a number of injuries, Caceres played well but at the end of the season the Bianconeri decided not to keep him on and he went back to Spain and signed for Sevilla where he stayed for a season and a half. Upon specific request, in January 2012 he went back to Turin again on loan. With Juventus he won the scudetto which meant, due an agreement with Sevilla, Juventus had to buy him. However his second stint was marred by continuous injuries and he never played a full season. His contract expired in June 2016 and was not renewed. After six months of forced unemployment he finally signed for Southampton in February 2017, but he never managed to fit in and, after having played just one game, the two parties parted ways at the end of May.
During the summer of 2017 he signed a deal with Lazio, well almost. The Biancocelesti had too many non EU players so they could not sign him because he came from a foreign championship. However, if he had played in Italy there would not have been any problem since all non EU players can be exchanged freely if they already play in the Italian Championship. Therefore Caceres first signed for Verona for 6 months and then, in January 2018, moved to Lazio.
There was a lot of expectation. Caceres had proved to be very valid in his Juve days and Lazio needed a player who could help out in defence. However, also due to injuries, he was a bit of a disappointment, especially in the first part of the 2018-19 season where he did not play well. In January 2019 he was loaned to Juventus, in time to win his sixth scudetto with the Bianconeri, and in the 2019-2020 season he was sold to Fiorentina.
He did well in Florence and stayed for two seasons. In 2021 he signed for Cagliari but the team was not doing well and he was sold to Levante after just six months. He stayed in Spain for a semester at the end of which he signed for LA Galaxy.
He has played 116 times for Uruguay and participated in the 2010 (third place, he played two games), 2014 (fourth round, he played four matches), 2018 (quarter finals, five caps) and 2022 World Cup (one game, Uruguay did not pass the group stage) as well as the 2011 (winner), 2019 (quarter finals) and 2021 Copa America (again quarter finals).
He played 18 games for Lazio, 10 in Serie A, 2 in Coppa Italia and 6 in Europa League, with one goal against Fiorentina in Serie A.
Lazio career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Jan-Jun 2018 | 10 (1) | 6 (1) | 2 | 2 |
2018-Jan 2019 | 8 | 4 | - | 4 |
Total | 18 (1) | 10 (1) | 2 | 6 |
Sources
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