April 19, 2003: Lazio-Piacenza 2-1
- Lazio Stories
- Apr 19
- 9 min read
López livens up Lazio for comeback win
One zero down at half time the Argentine's energy and goals by Inzaghi and Corradi keep Lazio on course for Champions League.
Also on this day:
The season so far
This was Lazio's first season without homegrown and possibly best defender in the world Alessandro Nesta. Due to financial difficulties Lazio had been forced to sell their captain to Milan. To make matters worse Milan and Juventus had secretly agreed to keep their bids low, so Lazio were also forced to sell Hernán Crespo to Inter.
Fortunately, Lazio had a new manager. The disappointing Alberto Zaccheroni had been replaced by former player and scudetto winner Roberto Mancini.
Mancini found quite a different squad from the one he had left as a player only two years earlier. No more Pavel Nedved, Juan Sebastian Veron, Marcelo Salas, Alen Boksic and obviously Nesta.
From the previous season Lazio had also let go of midfielders Ivan de la Peña (Espanyol), Gaizka Mendieta (Barcelona - loan) and Karel Poborský (Sparta Prague).
Joining Mancini’s Lazio were defender Massimo Oddo (Verona), forwards Enrico Chiesa (Fiorentina) and Bernardo Corradi (Inter). In the winter session midfielder Nikola Lazetić would also be added (Como-via Chievo on loan).
The season had started well for Lazio. After the first round of fixtures in mid-January the Biancocelesti were 3rd. In 17 games they had won 10 (7 away, including Juventus 2-1), drawn 6 (including derby 2-2) and lost 1 (Chievo 2-3 at home). Lazio had 36 points and were in a healthy 3rd place only 3 points behind leaders Milan.
Since then they had slowed down with too many draws (7, including derby 1-1), only 2 wins and 2 defeats. Lazio were currently in 4th place but now 12 points from leaders Juventus.
In the UEFA Cup Lazio had got through the first five rounds (Skoda Xanthi 4-0, Red Star Belgrade 2-1, Sturm Graz 3-2, Wisla Krakow 5-4 and Beşiktaş 3-1, all on aggregate). In the semi-final first leg on April 10 the Biancocelesti had unfortunately fallen to a heavy 1-4 away defeat to Porto. The return match in Rome would be on April 24.
In Coppa Italia Lazio entered the tournament in December against Empoli and won 4-1 and then got past Bari 2-1, both on aggregate. In the semi-final though, Lazio had then been eliminated 1-3 on aggregate by Roma, the second leg only three days before today's game.
Today's opponents, Piacenza, had finished 12th in Serie A the previous season, under manager Walter Novellino. They had beaten both Roma and Lazio once and the top scorer was Dario Hubner with 24 league goals.
This season the manager was initially former Lazio player Andrea Agostinelli but he had been replaced after 19 games by Luigi Cagni (with Piacenza in 16th place and 6 from safety).
The Emiliani had been busy on the transfer market. Arriving were: defenders Hugo Campagnaro (Deportivo Morón), Amedeo Mangone (Parma - via Brescia), midfielders Dario Marcolin (Sampdoria but left in January for Napoli), Enzo Maresca (Juventus - on loan), Luigi Riccio (Ternana - via Ancona) plus forwards Johnnier Montaño (Parma - on loan via Verona but left for Parma in January), Mauro Obolo (Vélez Sarsfield on loan via Belgrano) and Francesco Zerbini (Varese - back from loan). In January they added; midfielders Davide Baiocco (Juventus - on loan), Sandro Cois (Sampdoria), Claudio Ferrarese (Napoli - on loan), Marco Marchionni (Parma - on loan) plus forwards Ibrahim Babatunde (Parma - via Arezzo) and Ciro De Cesare (Como).
Leaving were: defenders Alessandro Lucarelli (Palermo), Stefano Sacchetti (Sampdoria), Nicola Mora (Bari), midfielders Carmine Gautieri (Napoli - on loan), Matuzalém (Brescia), Vincenzo Sommese (Torino - end of loan), Sergio Volpi (Sampdoria) plus forwards Amauri (Empoli then Messina) and Paolo Poggi (Parma - end of loan then Venezia). In January defender Paolo Tramezzani (Atalanta), midfielder Francesco Statuto (Torino) and forward Nicola Caccia (Como) also left.
Possibly too many comings and goings and the "Papaveri" (The Poppies) were struggling and had only won 6 (including first two), drawn 5 (including Roma 1-1 at home) and lost 17 (including Lazio 2-3). Piacenza were on 23 points, still 16th and now 7 points from safety (Reggina on 30). The only good news for them was that one of their wins had come a week earlier, 3-1 away to Torino.
In Coppa Italia "Il Piace" had got through the first round beating Ternana 3-1 on aggregate but then went out to Chievo on away goals.
A match today that Lazio were expected to and had to win to keep up their Champions League hopes. Piacenza with 6 games to go and 7 points to catch up had few hopes of survival but it was still possible.
The match: Saturday, April 19, 2003, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A warm and sunny Saturday afternoon saw just under 35,000 in attendance.
Lazio were without goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi, defenders Jaap Stam, Beppe Pancaro and midfielder Lucas Castromán.
Piacenza were missing goalkeeper Matteo Guardalben, defenders Vittorio Tosto and Gianluca Lamacchi plus forward Dario Hübner.
Lazio's attacking duo Bernardo Corradi and Simone Inzaghi had only played 96 minutes together this season and Lazio had great difficulty creating chances.
Piacenza defended for long periods but were rarely rattled by Lazio's attacks. One exception was when Inzaghi set up Dejan Stankovic but the Serb managed to hit it straight at the keeper from an inviting position.
That was about all the Biancocelesti managed to muster in the first 45 minutes. To make matters worse the visitors scored just before the break on a rare counterattack. In the 45th minute Eusebio Di Francesco went down the right to the by-line and crossed into the middle where Ciro Di Cesare scored from close range. Lazio' s defence left wanting especially Fernando Couto and Beppe Favalli and Lazio 0 Piacenza 1.
A surprise score line and against the run of play but Lazio had created too little to feel hard done by.
In the second half Lazio came back on with a more energetic approach. The real game changers however were the substitutions. In the 57th minute Claudio López came on for Stefano Fiore and in the 59th Fabio Liverani for Giuliano Giannichedda. In Lopez Lazio suddenly had more speed and in Liverani more inventiveness.
Piacenza responded by taking off midfielder Enzo Maresca and putting on Bogdan Pătrașcu.
Mancini’s decisions were rewarded immediately. In the 60th minute Claudio López sent an excellent through ball to Inzaghi who fired a mid-height shot which hit the near post and then went in. Lazio 1 Piacenza 1.
The Argentine "Piojo" (Flea) then teed up Stankovic who blasted a shot which came back off the crossbar.
Lazio were now attacking full force and another goal came with a quarter of an hour remaining. In the 74th minute Liverani sent Massimo Oddo down the right, the full back crossed, Inzaghi got a touch, Paolo Orlandoni saved but the ball fell loose to Corradi who had no problem scoring from close range. Lazio 2 Piacenza 1.
Piacenza, full of midfielders, tried to remedy by putting on more attacking minded Claudio Ferrarese for defender Matteo Abbate in the 80th minute and forward Francesco Zerbini for midfielder Marco Marchionni in the 85th but the Emiliani were unable to change their defensive game plan.
Lazio took precautions by taking off man of the match Inzaghi for midfielder Nikola Lazetić in the 81st minute.
Lazio managed to control the game in the last stages and bring home an unexpectedly difficult but important win. The key had been López who had brought more speed and sense of urgency to Lazio's moves.
Lazio were still 4th, on 52 points. The Biancocelesti maintained the +4 on 5th placed Parma (Torino 1-0 at home) but were now only -3 from 3rd placed Milan (surprise 0-1 home defeat to Empoli).
Piacenza's situation had not changed (all the others had lost too) but there was now one game less to play and survival looking more and more unlikely.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Oddo, F.Couto, Mihajlovic, Favalli, Fiore (57' C. López), Giannichedda (59' Liverani), Stankovic, Cesar, Corradi, S.Inzaghi (81' Lazetic)
Manager: Mancini
Who played for Piacenza
Orlandoni, Campagnaro, Mangone, Abbate (80' Ferrarese), Cristante, Gurenko, Maresca (59' Pătraşcu), Baiocco, Di Francesco, Marchionni (85' Zerbini), De Cesare
Substitutes: Franzone, Ronaldi, Cois, Obolo
Manager: Cagni
Referee: Dondarini
Goals: 45' De Cesare, 60' S.Inzaghi, 74' Corradi
What happened next
Lazio had a very good season. The Biancocelesti finished 4th in Serie A (Champions League preliminary). In the last 5 games they won 2, drew 2 (Inter 1-1 away and Juventus 0-0 at home) and lost 1 (last game at Udine). In total they won 15, drew 15 and only lost 4 games. Top scorer was Claudio López with 17 goals (15 in A). A positive first year for Mancini with some excellent football played too.
Lazio would then get into the Champions League proper in August defeating Benfica 4-1 on aggregate.
Piacenza predictably ended up getting relegated, finishing 16th. In the last 5 games they won 2 (Perugia 5-1 and Milan 4-2), drew 1 and lost 2. Their top scorer was Hübner with 15 goals (14 in A).
Piacenza have not been back in Serie A since and are now languishing in Serie D.
The Scudetto was won by Juventus for the 27th time. Not a good year for some other northern teams as Piacenza slumped down to Serie B with Atalanta, Torino and Como.
Let’s talk about: Bernardo Corradi
Bernardo Corradi was born in Siena on March 30 1976. After playing for Siena's youth academy and a few other minor Tuscan clubs, he started playing professionally for Poggibonsi in Serie C2 and D between 1994 and 1996, making 47 league appearances with 9 goals.
He then signed for Ponsacco, again in Serie C2. He played 31 league games and scored 6 goals.
In August 1997 he got his big break when he joined Cagliari but after only two games was immediately loaned to Montevarchi in C1 where he played 26 league games with 5 goals. The following season he played for Fidelis Andria in Serie B. He did not do too badly, scoring 8 goals in 33 appearances so Cagliari took him back.
He debuted in Serie A against Lazio on August 30 1999. That year he did not score, never good for a centre forward, but he attracted the attention of Inter and moved to Milan in 2000 but not for long.
The Nerazzurri loaned him to Chievo Verona and in two years he made his mark: 23 goals in 74 appearances. In his second year Chievo qualified for the UEFA Cup, an amazing feat for the small club.
Back at Inter in 2002 he remained just in time to appear in the Champions League qualification match against Sporting Lisbon before he was sold to Lazio in the deal that saw Hernan Crespo move to Milan.
At Lazio he became one of the best centre forwards in Serie A. In two years, he made 82 appearances under Roberto Mancini and scored 22 goals. Lazio qualified for the Champions League in his first year and won the Coppa Italia in his second. In the return final against Juventus, Lazio were in trouble. They had won the first leg at home 2-0 but were losing 0-2 in Turin so it was all square. A spectacular header by Corradi allowed the Biancocelesti to get the decisive away goal which brought the trophy back to Rome. The game then ended 2-2.
Lazio however were in serious financial difficulty. The disastrous signing of Gaizka Mendieta left a huge debt with Valencia. When Claudio Lotito took over the club, he sold Corradi and Stefano Fiore to the Spanish club in order to cover the debt. Neither of the two wanted to go but it was in the club's best interest. In Spain he did not do very well, even if he did win a UEFA Super Cup, and after a year he was loaned to Parma.
He did well in Emilia (39 appearances with 10 goals) and his positive performance took him on loan to Manchester City but he had a pretty poor season (just 3 goals in 25 appearances).
In 2007 he was back at Parma, again on loan but he continued to score little. At the end of his contract, he signed for Reggina where he started to score again (11 goals). In 2009 he signed for Udinese but in two years his contribution was minimal (1 goal in 37 league games). In 2012 he moved to Canada to play for Montreal Impact. It would be his last year in active football.
At International level he played 13 times for Italy with one goal (Portugal in 1-0 win in a friendly). He was part of the Italian squad at Euro 2004 and played in the opening match against Bulgaria.
Since retiring, he has been involved with the Italian National team. He has been head coach of the Under 16s, Under 17s, Under 18s and Under 19s and is currently in charge of the Under 20s. He has also done punditry for Mediaset Television.
Corradi was an excellent centre forward. His time at Lazio was probably the highlight of his career and where he reached the highest level of performances. He was a very physical player so very dangerous on headers, he often missed easy chances with his feet, but a cross in the box was always a good idea when one had Corradi and his acrobatic skills in one’s team.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
2002-03 | 36 (10) | 32 (10) | 4 | |
2003-04 | 46 (12) | 32 (10) | 6 (1) | 8 (1) |
Total | 82 (22) | 64 (20) | 10 (1) | 8 (1) |
Sources
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