Looking good
Lazio, clearly thinking about the Champions League tie which will take place in a few days, beat Bologna 2-1 but could have scored many more.
Also on this day: August 22, 1979, Lazio Matera 5-0, Coppa Italia. Lazio destroy Matera in Coppa Italia thanks to a marvellous game from D’Amico. Player of the day: Antonio Labonia
The season so far
The previous season had seen Lazio arrive third and qualify for the Champions League playoff. It was a great season and Lazio 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. Lazio’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.
However, it was time to start Serie A.
The match: Saturday, August 22, 2015, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio started the game very well and after ten minutes had their first chance of the match. Ricardo Kishna from the right sent in a perfect ball for Antonio Candreva. His header shaved the post. The Biancoceleste winger had another chance three minutes later. Corner for Lazio, quick one-two with Stefan Radu and Candreva moved towards the centre of the field outside the box and shot towards the goal. Antonio Mirante produced his first sensational save of the evening.
In the 17th minute Lazio scored. Lucas Biglia from the left sent the ball to the other side for Candreva who passed to the upcoming Dusan Basta. Cross into the box, Keita Balde involuntarily passed it back to Biglia who from just inside the area placed it in the back of the net.
Six minutes later the Biancocelesti doubled. Marco Parolo to Radu on the left, the Romanian to Candreva who crossed into the box. The Bologna defence tried to clear but the ball arrived to Kishna who had no problem scoring Lazio’s second goal.
The Biancocelesti were unstoppable and a Basta shot parried well by Mirante in the 31st minute. Lazio dominated but in the 42nd minute Franco Brienza passed a good ball to Matteo Mancosu who beat Radu for speed and in front of Etrit Berisha put the ball under the crossbar. The first half ended 2-1 for Lazio.
Bad news for Lazio in the 50th minute. Biglia got injured and had to leave the field. He would certainly not be available for the Champions League tie. In the 65th minute Keita shot from outside the box and Mirante parried into corner. In the 72nd Candreva dribbled past three Bologna players and from a difficult angle tried a shot at goal but yet again Mirante saved. Four minutes later the Bologna goalkeeper parried another great shot from Danilo Cataldi. When it seemed all over, in the second minute of overtime Berisha saved a dangerous header from Matteo Brighi into corner. But it was too late for the Rossoblu. Lazio won their first game of the season.
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Basta, de Vrij, Gentiletti, Radu, Parolo, Biglia (51’ Cataldi), Lulic (61' Milinkovic-Savic), Candreva (75’ Felipe Anderson), Keita, Kishna.
Manager: Pioli
Who played for Bologna
Mirante, A. Ferrari, Oikonomou, Rossettini, Masina, Brighi, Crisetig (83' Diawara), Crimi (46' Pulgar), Brienza, Mancosu, Acquafresca (75' Destro).
Substitutes: Da Costa, Stojanovic, Ceccarelli, Maietta, Morleo, Palomeque, Silvestro, Falco, Cacia.
Manager: D. Rossi
Referee: Rocchi
Goals: 17’ Biglia, 23’ Kishna, 43’ Mancosu
What happened next
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. Small wins and big 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.
A season which seemed basically over when Lazio collected only two points in seven games between the end of October and mid December. Then things changed. Lazio won in Milan against Inter just before Christmas, played a horrible goalless game with Carpi at home in the first game of 2016 but then beat Fiorentina away and came back from two nil down to draw at Bologna. They then beat Sassuolo but the return to form was short-lived. Disappointing goalless draws away from home at Udine, Genoa and Frosinone, the usual loss against Napoli and an unusual one at home against Sassuolo really meant that a European Cup qualification was too far away.
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. 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.
A good start with two consecutive wins and a few tactical changes before a defeat in Turin against Juventus and one against Sampdoria where Lazio had a million chances to win.
Goodbye to Europe and goodbye to Miro Klose who made his last 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.
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 Ricardo Kishna
Ricardo Kishna was born in The Hague, Netherlands, on January 4, 1995. He started his football career first with the amateur side VUC and then the youth teams of ADO Den Haag. In 2010 he signed for Ajax and continued his youth training until he was loaned out to Jong Ajax, the second team made up of mainly young players. He did so well that the first team called him up and he debuted with the Ajax jersey in Europa League on February 20 2014 and three days later in the Eredivisie. He became a regular first team player in the 2014-‘15 season and played 38 games with six goals but he had problems with manager Frank de Boer so at the end of the championship he asked to be sold.
In 2015 he joined Lazio. He debuted in the losing Super Coppa Final against Juventus on August 8 in Shanghai. His debut in Serie A was in the first game against Bologna where he even scored a goal. He played a year and a half with the Biancocelesti showing talent but only sporadically. It was not a good year for Lazio and Kishna probably suffered the team's difficulties. He played 5 games in 2016-‘17 before he was loaned to Lille. After six months he was loaned to ADO Den Haag but he had a very serious injury that kept him out of football for three years. He went into depression and had a very tough time. Once his contract with Lazio ended he signed for ADO Den Haag and was able to get back to the pitch on November 8 2020, 1168 days after his last match.
He appeared a total of 21 times for Lazio: 16 in Serie A, once in Champions League, 3 in Europa League and once in Super Coppa.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2015-16 | 16 (2) | 11 (2) | 1 | 3 | 1 |
2016-Jan 2017 | 5 | 5 | - | - | - |
Total | 21 (2) | 16 (2) | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Sources
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