Seven goals, all in the second half
After a forgettable first 45 minutes, Lazio open the floodgates and score seven
The season so far
Last season had not been good and Manager Vladimir Petkovic had been sacked half way through and replaced by veteran Edy Reja. The latter did not want to continue so Lazio had chosen Stefano Pioli for this year. A controversial decision. Pioli did not have an extensive CV but was considered to be a rising star.
As far as transfers were concerned, Lazio did their homework this year. New arrivals included right back Dušan Basta (Udinese), centre backs Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord) and Santiago Gentiletti (San Lorenzo), left back Edson Braafheid (free transfer), midfielder Marco Parolo (Parma) and centre forward Filip Djordjevic (free transfer). Danilo Cataldi had also returned from his loan at Crotone.
Leaving Lazio were André Dias who had retired, Giuseppe Biava who had decided not to renew his contract plus a number of minor players such as Gael Kakuta, Emiliano Alfaro, Brayan Perea and Helger Postiga.
During the preseason training phase Lazio had beaten SV Hamburger and drawn with Sporting Lisbon. Today was the first official match of the season, the third preliminary round of the Coppa Italia against Bassano Virtus.
In the first round, with 36 teams from the third and fourth tiers, Bassano had won away at Vicenza, and in the second, with the 18 winners plus Serie B teams, had won at Livorno. For the third round, enter the 12 Serie A clubs ranked 9-20.
The match: Sunday, August 24, 2014, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
It was a sad day and the club commemorated Aldo Donati who had died recently. A Lazio fan and great singer of the 1970s who had written the most famous Lazio anthem.
Lazio did not really try much in the first half. They had a half chance with Keita Balde in the 11th minute but he could not make a decent connection from a favourable position. The Senegalese managed to score in the 25th minute but it was not given due to a dubious foul and had another chance in the 33rd minute, but his shot went wide after a great pass from Cristian Ledesma. Lorik Cana could have scored in the 36th minute but his volley was brilliantly saved by Gian Maria Rossi.
The poor first half meant that the useless Felipe Anderson was substituted by Antonio Candreva in the interval and it took him just 30 seconds to score Lazio’s first. Keita on a counter attack, ball to Marco Parolo who let it go through to the Lazio winger who made no mistake.
Stefan de Vrij had to save a weak shot from Mattia Proietti on the line after a Ledesma fumble but then it was all downhill for the Biancocelesti. In the 53rd minute a spectacular one-two Parolo-Djordjevic moved the ball into the box for Candreva anticipated by the defence. However, the stray ball arrived comfortably to Keita who had no problems scoring.
Five minutes later Ledesma crossed into the box for Candreva, low cross into the middle, Rossi got a hand to the ball but allowed de Vrij a simple tap in. In the 68th minute a great pass from Parolo to Keita who in front of the goalkeeper produced a perfect lob for his brace.
It was not over. In the 80th minute Candreva put the ball into the gap for Miro Klose, Rossi managed to parry but in came Parolo and scored Lazio’s fifth. In the 87th minute after a number of passes between the Lazio players in and on the edge of the box, ball to Dusan Basta who with a big whack from 25 metres made it 6. In the 92nd minute, Parolo to Candreva on the right of the box, low cross to the middle and Klose scored for Lazio’s 7-0.
All’s well that ends well. The horrible Lazio of the first half was replaced by a spectacular one in the second.
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Basta, de Vrij, Cana, Radu, Parolo, Ledesma (66’ Biglia), Lulic, Felipe Anderson (46’ Candreva), Djordjevic (70’ Klose), Keita
Substitutes: Strakosha, Guerrieri, Ciani, Novaretti, Braafheid, Pereirinha, Mauri, Cataldi, Tounkara
Manager: Pioli
Who played for Bassano Virtus
Rossi, Toninelli, Priola, Bizzotto, Semenzato (56' Stevanin), Cenetti (50' Cattaneo), Proietti, Furlan, Iocolano, Davì, Maistrello (76' Munarini)
Substitutes: Grandi, Zanella, Cortesi, Bortot
Manager: Asta
Referee: Di Bello
Goals: 46’ Candreva, 53’ Keita, 59’ de Vrij, 68’ Keita, 80’ Parolo, 87’ Basta, 92’ Klose
What happened next
Lazio struggled in the beginning. In the third fixture, away at Genoa, Gentiletti got seriously injured and the Biancocelesti had difficulty in replacing him. But then things started to work out and Lazio ended the first part of the season in fifth place, two points from third. More importantly, one could see that Felipe Anderson was in the form of his life and had been devastating in some matches.
So, at the end of the first half of the season Lazio were fifth, two points behind Napoli and Sampdoria, third.
In the first game of the second round of fixtures the Biancocelesti demolished Milan 3-1 but then lost two consecutive matches, away at Cesena and at home to Genoa. From then on, they started a run of seven consecutive wins that took them to third place, just one point behind Roma. Their eight consecutive win against Empoli allowed them to overtake the Giallorossi but it was short-lived since they lost the next game away to Juventus.
So, it was all down to the derby in the last but one match of the season to determine who would be second. Unfortunately, Lazio lost and in the last game a point was needed at Napoli to secure third place. Napoli, on the other hand, needed to win to overtake Lazio. At the end of the first half Lazio were winning 2-0, but in the second, Napoli equalised and were then awarded a controversial penalty. Gonzalo Higuain missed it, and towards the end Lazio scored with Eddy Onazi and Miro Klose to clinch the match and third place.
There were big celebrations. Lazio had played very well all year and possibly deserved even more than third place, but controversial refereeing decisions, especially in Lazio-Inter 1-2, plus exhaustion towards the end did not allow it to happen.
Lazio had a good run in Coppa Italia too. After beating Varese in December 3-0 (Abdoulay Konko, Djordjevic and Felipe Anderson), they won 3-1 away against Torino (Keita, Klose and Cristian Ledesma) and beat Milan at San Siro in the quarter finals thanks to a Lucas Biglia penalty. In the semi-final against Napoli Lazio drew the first leg at home 1-1 (Klose the scorer) and won in Naples 1-0 with a goal by Senad Lulic.
The final was at the Olimpico against Juventus. Lazio scored immediately with Stefan Radu but Juventus soon equalised. In the first half of extra time Djordjevic hit the woodwork twice with one shot and Juventus scored immediately after. Lazio were very unlucky.
The players with most appearances were Miroslav Klose and Marco Parolo (40). The German was obviously top scorer with 16 goals.
Lazio 2014-15
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 21 | 6 | 11 | 71 |
Coppa Italia | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
Total | 45 | 26 | 7 | 12 | 88 |
Top 5 appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Klose | 40 | 34 | 6 |
Parolo | 40 | 34 | 6 |
Candreva | 38 | 34 | 4 |
Felipe Anderson | 37 | 32 | 5 |
de Vrij | 35 | 30 | 5 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Klose | 16 | 13 | 3 |
Parolo | 11 | 10 | 1 |
Candreva | 11 | 10 | 1 |
Felipe Anderson | 11 | 10 | 1 |
Mauri | 9 | 9 | - |
Djordjevic | 9 | 8 | 1 |
Let's talk about Marco Parolo
Marco Parolo played for Lazio from 2014 to 2021.
Marco Parolo was born in Gallarate (Milan), on 25 January, 1985.
He started his professional career at Como in C1 in 2004. At the end of the season Como were relegated and folded so Parolo moved on to Chievo Verona from where he was immediately loaned to Pistoiese (C1) for two seasons. In 2007 he returned to Chievo only to be loaned to Foligno (C1) for €500. In 2008 he again returned to Chievo this time for €50,000 but then sold to city rivals Verona, only to return to Chievo for virtually nothing at the end of the season.
Parolo's coming and going, to and from Chievo, finally came to an end in 2009 when he was loaned out to Cesena in Serie B. It was in Romagna he got his breakthrough winning promotion and at the end of the season was actually bought by the club. Parolo made his Serie A debut against Roma on 28 August 2010. Parolo performed well for Cesena and even got a call up by the National "Azzurri".
In 2012 he was loaned to Parma in Serie A. He played two solid seasons in Emilia and attracted Lazio's interest. In 2014 he was bought by Lazio for €4.5 million.
Parolo had an excellent career in Rome. He was a first team choice for seven seasons. He rarely missed a game due to suspension or injury and despite playing in a holding role in midfield often got himself in goal scoring positions. In one away game at Pescara in 2017 he actually scored 4 times!
Parolo played a total of 265 games for Lazio (211 in Serie A, 21 in Coppa Italia, 7 in Champions League, 24 in Europa League and two Super Coppa finals) with 39 goals (27 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia, 2 in Champions League and 7 in Europa League).
At International level he won 36 caps over a 7-year period.
Parolo retired from Lazio, and football in 2021, at the age of 36.
Parolo was a physical, reliable, hard-working, box to box midfielder. He was not a particularly quick player but had good timing, positioning and at 1.83 metres was useful in the air. He had defensive qualities as well as powerful, accurate shooting abilities. His number 16 shirt could be seen in all areas of the field. He was versatile and could be deployed in various positions including right-sided winger or wing back or even as central defender on some occasions.
At Lazio Parolo won the Coppa Italia in 2019 (Atalanta) and 2 Italian Supercups in 2017 and 2019 (both against Juventus). He will be remembered positively in the capital; he was a regular for seven years and stood out for his work rate enriched by several important goals. He was respected on and off the pitch as an exemplary professional and was almost old style; no tattoos, trendy haircuts or expensive jewellery. To be a footballer he was considered to be of above average culture and was always intelligent and articulate in interviews. He is now using these skills in punditry working for DAZN TV on Serie A matches.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2014-15 | 40 (11) | 34 (10) | 6 (1) | - | - | - |
2015-16 | 40 (6) | 31 (3) | - | 2 | 7 (3) | - |
2016-17 | 38 (5) | 34 (5) | 4 | - | - | - |
2017-18 | 43 (6) | 31 (4) | 3 | - | 8 (2) | 1 |
2018-19 | 42 (6) | 34 (4) | 4 | - | 4 (2) | - |
2019-20 | 37 (2) | 29 (1) | 2 (1) | - | 5 | 1 |
2020-21 | 25 (3) | 18 | 2 (1) | 5 (2) | - | - |
Total | 265 (39) | 211 (27) | 21 (3) | 7 (2) | 24 (7) | 2 |
Sources
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