No Sarri ball yet but cynical win to start
Empoli play better and hit woodwork twice but Lazio come from behind and win
Also on this day: August 21, 2001, Lazio FC København 4-1 Champions League Third Qualifying Round. Two goals by Crespo and one by Lopez and Fiore overturn away defeat and bring on more Champions League nights for Lazio. Player of the day: Gaizka Mendieta
The season so far
Lazio had finished 6th (Europa League) the previous season, in Simone Inzaghi's last year as manager. Top scorer as usual was Ciro Immobile with 25 (20 in A). Lazio had also reached the last 16 of the Champions League but lost 2-6 on aggregate to Bayern Munich.
Initially it seemed Inzaghi would stay on but in the meantime, unknown to Lazio, made an agreement with Inter and left unexpectedly. Therefore, this season Lazio had a new manager, Maurizio Sarri, with a new style of play.
The summer market had seen a few changes. Arriving were defender Elseid Hysaj (free agent), midfielders Toma Bašić (Bordeaux), Felipe Anderson (returning from West Ham), Luka Romero (Mallorca), Mattia Zaccagni (Verona) and forward Pedro (Roma…).
Leaving were defender Wesley Hoedt (Southampton, end of loan), Mohamed Fares (Genoa-on loan), midfielders Senad Lulic and Marco Parolo both retiring, Andreas Pereira (Manchester United-end of loan) plus forward Joaquín Correa (Inter).
So, a welcome return, that of Felipetto Anderson, but also some sad goodbyes, legendary Senad Lulic but also popular Marco Parolo.
Empoli were newly promoted. The previous year the Azzurri had won Serie B under manager Alessio Dionisi. Top scorer was Leonardo Mancuso with 20 league goals.
This season Empoli had a new manager in Andrea Andreazzoli. He evoked sweet memories for Laziali as he was Roma's manager on May 26 2013, when Lazio defeated their bitter rivals in the Coppa Italia final.
The Tuscans had also made several changes to the squad for the higher level of football awaiting them. Arriving were keeper Guglielmo Vicario (Cagliari, on loan), defenders Ardian Ismajli (Spezia), Riccardo Marchizza (Sassuolo, on loan), Petar Stojanović (Dinamo Zagreb, on loan), Lorenzo Tonelli (Sampdoria), midfielders Nicolas Haas (Atalanta) and Liam Henderson (Lecce).
The main players leaving were defenders Dimitris Nikolaou (Spezia), Stefano Sabelli (Genoa), Aleksa Terzić (Fiorentina, end of loan), midfielder Andrea Cambiaso (Genoa, end of loan), forward Ryder Matos (Udinese, end of loan) and Marco Olivieri (Juventus, end of loan).
Lazio were favourites but Empoli had the enthusiasm of the newly promoted while the Biancocelesti had a completely new tactical setup which could take some time to assimilate.
The match: Saturday, August 21, 2021, Stadio Carlo Castellani, Empoli
A sparse crowd turned up in still peak holiday season at possibly the worst ground in Serie A, the Castellani. About half had come from Rome.
Empoli were without defender Fabiano Parisi and midfielder Federico Di Francesco, while Lazio were missing midfielders Danilo Cataldi and Toma Basic plus forward Mattia Zaccagni.
It was sort of homecoming for Maurizio Sarri as he had coached Empoli from 2012 to 2015 and winning promotion to Serie A.
His former club did not give him much of a welcome and scored after four minutes. Nedim Bajrami burst forward on the break and teed up debutant Filippo Bandinelli on the left inside the area, the Florentine stopped the ball and drilled a left footed shot in the opposite corner. A dream Serie A debut for him and nightmare start for Lazio. Empoli 1 Lazio 0.
Lazio reacted and equalised almost immediately. In the 6th minute Felipe Anderson took a short corner for Pedro who passed back to the Brazilian who chested the ball near the by-line and flicked a cross to the near post where Sergej Milinkovic-Savic anticipated the defence and headed in. Empoli 1 Lazio 1.
Empoli almost took back the lead in the 12th minute. A long ball by Petar Stojanovic went over the Lazio defence and put Leonardo Mancuso in front of Pepe Reina, the forward got to the ball first but lunging put the ball just wide.
In the 22nd minute Mancuso went close again when following a corner his low effort was blocked on the near post by Reina.
Three minutes later it was the hosts again who threatened when Bandinelli hit the post on a shot from the edge of the area.
Just after the half hour and slightly against the run of play, Lazio went in front. Manuel Lazzari surged forward centrally and after a perfect one-two with Milinkovic-Savic entered the area on the right and beat Vicario with a low strike on the opposite post. Empoli 1 Lazio 2.
Ten minutes later Lazio made it three thanks to a naive mistake by Guglielmo Vicario who on a high ball into the area let the ball bounce and then bumped into Francesco Acerbi who obviously collapsed to the ground. An avoidable and unnecessary foul but punishable with a penalty according to the rule book which Sozza dutifully followed. Ciro Immobile stepped up and put a confident strike to Vicario's left. Empoli 1 Lazio 3.
A flattering score line for Lazio who had been put in difficulty by the Azzurri's speed and enthusiasm.
For the second half Lazio replaced Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro with a more creative and offensive midfielder, Luis Alberto.
Empoli started strongly after the break too. In the 55th minute first Reina saved on Bandinelli and on the rebound Bajrami's thundering strike was cleared off the line by Luiz Felipe.
Bajrami tried again five minutes later but his shot was deflected and went just wide.
In the 60th minute Lazio replaced veteran Pedro with younger and fresher Raul Moro and in the 70th Milinkovic-Savic with André Anderson. It was the Brazilian substitute who combined with Immobile in the 73rd minute, picking up on an error playing out of defence by the hosts, but Anderson's close range shot from near the by-line was saved by Vicario.
Empoli made five substitutions in the last twenty minutes to try and change the script with fresh players not debilitated by the evening's summer humidity.
Lazio made another two in the last ten minutes bringing on Gonzalo Escalante for Lucas Leiva and Vedat Muriqi for Immobile in the 82nd minute.
The last chances were for the Empolesi who hit the woodwork again. In the third of the four minutes of added time Bajrami curled a shot from outside the left of the area but the ball came back off the crossbar with Reina beaten. Then in the dying seconds Riccardo Marchizza blasted a long range shot just over the bar. Full time Empoli 1 Lazio 3.
A cynical win by Lazio but a good debut for Sarri. Lazio however would have to play better if they wanted to be competitive. Empoli felt a little hard done by as they had produced more chances including hitting the woodwork twice. If they always played like this evening, they should avoid relegation without excessive problems.
Who played for Empoli
Vicario, Stojanovic (82' Fiamozzi), Ismajli, Romagnoli, Marchizza, Ricci, Haas (76' Zurkowski), Bandinelli (70' Henderson), Bajrami, Mancuso (82' La Mantia), Cutrone (76' Crociata)
Substitutes: Brignoli, Canestrelli, Stulac, Ekong, Asllani, Luperto, Viti
Manager: Andreazzoli
Who played for Lazio
Reina, Lazzari, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Hysaj, Milinkovic-Savic (70' A. Anderson), Leiva (82' Escalante), Akpa Akpro (46' Luis Alberto), F. Anderson, Immobile (82' Muriqi), Pedro (60' Moro)
Manager: Sarri
Referee: Sozza
Goals: 4' Bandinelli, 6' Milinkovic-Savic, 31' Lazzari, 41' Immobile (pen)
What happened next
Lazio finished 5th. At the end of the summer crowd favourite Felipe Caicedo left (Genoa) and in January defender Denis Vavro (Copenhagen), midfielders Gonzalo Escalante (Alavés-on loan) and disappointing forward Vedat Muriqi (Mallorca-on loan) also left.
Lazio had a predictably up and down season, coming to terms with Sarri's style of football. The Biancocelesti had some good wins, including Spezia 6-1, Roma 3-2, Inter 3-1 at home and Fiorentina 3-0 away but also some heavy defeats including Bologna 0-3, Verona 1-4, Napoli 0-4, Roma 0-3. An Europa League qualification and coming above Roma however was a decent start to Sarri's reign.
In Coppa Italia, Lazio crashed out 0-4 away to Milan in the quarter finals.
In Europa League the Biancocelesti finished 2nd in a group with Galatasaray (0-1, 0-0), Lokomotiv Moscow (2-0, 3-0) and Olympique Marseille (0-0, 2-2). They were therefore forced to a playoff with Porto, coming down from the Champions League, which Lazio were unfortunate to lose 3-4 on aggregate.
Empoli reached their yearly objective of avoiding relegation and finished 14th. The Tuscans won 10 (including Juventus, Napoli and Atalanta all 1-0 away and Fiorentina 2-1 at home), drew 11 (including Lazio 3-3) and lost 17. Top scorer was Andrea Pinamonti with 13 league goals.
Lazio 2021-2022
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 77 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Europa League | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
Total | 48 | 21 | 14 | 13 | 88 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Felipe Anderson | 48 | 38 | 2 | 8 |
Milinkovic-Savic | 47 | 37 | 2 | 8 |
Leiva | 45 | 35 | 2 | 8 |
Luis Alberto | 44 | 34 | 2 | 8 |
Cataldi | 42 | 32 | 2 | 8 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Immobile | 39 | 27 | 1 | 4 |
Milinkovic-Savic | 11 | 11 | - | - |
Pedro | 10 | 9 | - | 1 |
Felipe Anderson | 7 | 6 | - | 1 |
Luis Alberto | 5 | 5 | - | - |
Zaccagni | 5 | 4 | - | 1 |
Let's talk about Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro
Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro was born in Toulouse, France, on October 11, 1992. He is of Ivorian nationality. His two older brothers also played for Toulouse.
He started his career in the Toulouse youth setup and in 2011 joined the first team. Over the next seven years he played 121 league games for the "Pitchouns" (Kiddies) and scored 5 goals. The Violets finished 8th, 10th, 9th, 17th, 17th, 13th and 18th. In 2016 he was injured with athletic pubalgia and had to stop playing for a year.
In 2018 he joined Salernitana in Serie B. The Granata, under managers Stefano Colantuono, former Lazio player Angelo Gregucci and then Leonardo Menichini, finished 16th and stayed up after the playouts.
The following year, under former Italy coach Gian Piero Ventura, the Calabresi finished 10th. Akpa Akpro played 58 league games with 2 goals in his two seasons and played alongside Lazio connections Cristiano Lombardi (2016-17, 2018-19, 2021-22), Djavan Anderson (2019-20), André Anderson (2019-20, 2021-22, 2023-24) and Davide Di Gennaro (2017-18, 2020-21). During this period Claudio Lotito was also involved with Salernitana so several players went back and forth.
In 2020 Akpa Akpro himself joined Lazio and stayed two seasons. The manager was Simone Inzaghi and Lazio finished 6th (EL) and reached the last 16 of the Champions League. Akpro played 32 league games, 2 games in Coppa Italia and 8 in Champions League with a goal against Borussia Dortmund in a 3-1 win.
The following year, with the arrival of new manager Maurizio Sarri, he featured less. He played 10 league games and 3 in the Europa League. Lazio finished 5th (EL).
In 2022 Akpa Akpro left Lazio and joined Empoli on loan. The Azzurri finished 14th under Paolo Zanetti. Akpa Akpro played 24 league games with 1 goal (Bologna).
In 2023-24 he played for Monza on loan. The Brianzoli finished 12th under manager Raffaello Paladino and Akpa Akpro played 19 league games.
At international level he has earned 17 caps for Ivory Coast and won an African Cup in 2015.
Akpa Akpro is a midfielder although he started his career at full-back. He is strong physically and his main asset is as a ball winner but he also has good pace and athleticism. He is a versatile player and can be used in various midfield roles.
At Lazio he played regularly for one season. He worked hard but rarely had any stand out performances. He will be remembered mainly for his goal against Erling Haaland's Borussia Dortmund, when he scored the definite 3-1 giving Lazio a famous victory.
His contract with Lazio runs out in 2025 so who knows, he could be back.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League |
2020-21 | 42 (1) | 32 | 2 | 8 (1) | - |
2021-22 | 13 | 10 | - | - | 3 |
Totals | 55 (1) | 42 | 2 | 8 (1) | 3 |
Sources
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