Lazio win goal festival
Lazio win never in doubt in high scoring game.
Also on this day: December 17, 1989, Udinese Lazio 0-2. Two goals in the last fifteen minutes give Lazio deserved on the road win. Player of the day: Andrea Icardi
The season so far
It was Zdenek Zeman's second year in charge after the previous year's second place (although way behind champions Juventus). They had also reached the UEFA Cup quarter-final (unlucky exit to former Lazio Karl-Heinz Riedle's Borussia Dortmund) and the semi-final of the Italian Cup. So they were trying to build on a positive year.
The summer market had brought defenders Guerino Gottardi (Neuchatel Xamax) and Alessandro Grandoni (Ternana). The main changes were the players leaving. It was with great sadness that Lazio said goodbye to beloved Paul Gascoigne (Rangers for 11 million pounds) after 3 eventful years in Rome. Also leaving were defenders Roberto Cravero (Torino), Roberto Bacci (Torino) and midfielder Giorgio Venturin (Cagliari-loan).
Lazio had started the season reasonably well and had even beaten Juventus 4-0 but something had gone wrong recently and they came into this match on 19 points after 3 consecutive defeats (Milan, Vicenza and Parma). The fans were not happy, to put it mildly.
Sampdoria had come in 8th the year before and had reached the UEFA Cup semi-final. The manager (officially D.T due to bureaucratic reasons) was still Swedish Sven-Goran Eriksson and players added to the books were: French midfielder Christian Karembeu (F.C Nantes), Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf (Ajax Amsterdam) and promising young Italian striker Enrico Chiesa (Cremonese). The Blucerchiati from Genova had however also lost some quality players; Englishman David Platt (Arsenal), Dutch icon Ruud Gullit (Chelsea), Serbian midfielder Vladimir Jugovic (Juventus), Italian defender Pietro Vierchowod (Juventus) and Italian winger Attilio Lombardo (Juventus).
Strange but true between players leaving Samp and present players there were 7 who would one day play for Lazio plus manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. There were four on the field (Sinisa Mihajlovic, Emanuele Pesaresi, Enrico Chiesa and Roberto Mancini) and one on the bench (Matteo Sereni) but today they were still defending the Sampdoria colours. Two players who had just left (Vladimir Jugovic and Attilio Lombardo) would also one day be Laziali. They came into today's clash on the same 19 points as Lazio but following three consecutive wins, including a 2-0 triumph against Juventus a week earlier. Their young talented striker, Enrico Chiesa, had scored 5 goals in the last two games.
The game at the Olimpico had no clear favourite today.
The match: Sunday, December 17, 1995, Rome, Stadio Olimpico
A crowd of about 35,000 turned up on a rainy, December afternoon to witness a highly entertaining game with an unusual number of goals. The more passionate sector, the Curva Nord, was initially empty due to a strike in protest over recent results.
On the field it was Lazio who came out of the blocks stronger and played at a very high rhythm despite the wet pitch. It was Sampdoria though who had the first chance but then Lazio who took the lead.
Lazio's Giuseppe Signori, known as Beppe, had too much pace for Karembeu and his shot found the net with some help from the Samp keeper, who should have done better. Lazio's speed and well-oiled movements kept them clearly on top for the rest of the first half despite losing winger Roberto Rambaudi through injury just after the half hour mark (substituted by Pierluigi Casiraghi). Sampdoria however, managed to equalize against the run of play in the 40th minute. A Lazio keeper Francesco Mancini howler on a seemingly innocuous (for once) Mihajlovic freekick made it 1-1.
Lazio reacted positively to the setback and within five minutes were not only back in the lead but 3-1 up. First keeper Angelo Pagotto pulled down Casiraghi in the area for a penalty which Signori scored with his customary no run-up powerful strike. Then just before the half time whistle a curling shot by Croatian Alen Boksic took a slight deflection off Mihajlovic and gave Pagotto no chance, handing Lazio a double lead at the break. Lazio 3 Sampdoria 1.
The second half saw Sampdoria continue to struggle. Roberto Mancini, arguably their most talented player, was just back from injury and positioned too far from goal. Their midfield with Alberigo Evani, Seedorf and Giovanni Invernizzi was too slow paced to limit Lazio's lightning assaults.
A classic team effort in the 57th minute put Lazio 4-1 up. A move straight out of the Zeman attacking textbook put Aron Winter in a perfect position for a tap-in goal.
In the 65th minute rising star Enrico Chiesa pulled one back for Sampdoria, going around the keeper to make it 4-2 and giving the visitors some hope. It lasted not even two minutes as Lazio soon scored again. In the 67th minute another excellent team move enabled Casiraghi to slot in Lazio's fifth.
Lazio were definitely having fun and continued to go forward with flowing attacks. In the 70th minute Signori beat a defender on the right side of the area and pulled an intelligent ball back for Diego Fuser to hammer home Lazio’s sixth of the afternoon.
There was still time for Chiesa to get a consolation brace as he put away a penalty in the 76th minute for a foul by Gottardi. It was not enough to save Sampdoria from a heavy defeat, with a score line more appropriate for the nearby Foro Italico.
Who played for Lazio
F.Mancini (46' Orsi), Gottardi, Favalli (74' Bergodi), Di Matteo, Negro, Chamot, Rambaudi (32' Casiraghi), Fuser, Boksic, Winter, Signori
Substitutes: Marcolin, Piovanelli
Manager: Zeman
Who played for Sampdoria
Pagotto, Karembeu, Ferri, Mihajlovic, Sacchetti, Pesaresi (71' Lamonica), Seedorf (60' Iacopino), Evani, Invernizzi (53' Bellucci), Chiesa, R.Mancini
Substitutes: Sereni, Maniero
Manager: Santarini
D.T: Eriksson
Referee: Bazzoli
Goals: 17' Signori, 40' Mihajlovic, 42' Signori (pen), 45' Mihajlovic (o.g), 57' Winter, 65' Chiesa, 67' Casiraghi, 70' Fuser, 76' Chiesa (pen)
What happened next
Lazio's goal machine struck again a week later in a 5-1 home win against Atalanta. Ultimately however they were too inconsistent to challenge for the title. There were more high scoring wins but also too many defeats (Inter, Napoli, Juventus) and surprising slips (Piacenza and Cremonese). So, despite several good wins and spectacular attacking football (including a derby win - always vital in Rome), Lazio came in 3rd, qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
Signori continued to score and won the Italian Golden Boot with 24 goals (together with Igor Protti of Bari who would join Lazio the next season). In Europe, in the current UEFA competition, Lazio were knocked out by French Olympique Lyonnais in the Round of 16. In the Coppa Italia they went out in the quarter-final.
Sampdoria had an average season and finished 8th again. They did have some high points, beating both Inter and Juventus away. The return match against Lazio was also another goals galore match ending up 3-3.
In the Coppa Italia they were eliminated in the 3rd round by Cagliari.
Overall a mediocre season for Sampdoria despite a few highlights here and there. They had some talented players in their squad, both up and coming (Chiesa and Seedorf), experienced (Evani, Mancini, Mihajlovic) and a future World Champion (Karembeu), and perhaps should have done better.
A positive note was that their young, local boy Enrico Chiesa flourished and bagged an impressive 22 goals.
The scudetto was won by A.C Milan (15th title) while Padova, Cremonese, Torino and Bari got the chop and descended to Serie B.
Lazio 1995-96
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 66 |
Coppa Italia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
UEFA Cup | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
Total | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 77 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Fuser | 39 | 32 | 4 | 3 |
Negro | 39 | 31 | 4 | 4 |
Di Matteo | 38 | 31 | 3 | 4 |
Signori | 38 | 31 | 4 | 3 |
Chamot | 37 | 32 | 4 | 1 |
Winter | 37 | 30 | 3 | 4 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Signori | 26 | 24 | 1 | 1 |
Casiraghi | 18 | 14 | - | 4 |
Winter | 7 | 6 | - | 1 |
Fuser | 6 | 6 | - | - |
Boksic | 4 | 4 | - | - |
Let's talk about Pierluigi Casiraghi (known as 'Gigi')
Pierluigi Casiraghi was born in Monza (Lombardy), on March 4, 1969.
He grew up in his hometown youth sector and in 1985-86 joined the first team squad. His debut came against Fiorentina in a cup game on 21 August, when he came on for the last 20 minutes. His league debut in Serie B was on October 20, 1985, against Arezzo. His first goal came against Pescara on June 1, 1986. He played 14 times that season but Monza had a poor year and were relegated to C1.
In his second season he played more, 25 appearances with 6 goals, plus a brace against Sampdoria in the cup.
The 1987-88 season saw Casiraghi flourish and he scored 12 times as the Brianzoli got promoted back to Serie B.
The following season he paired up with Maurizio Ganz (later to play for Inter and Milan) and with 9 goals helped Monza survive in Serie B. In total at Monza he played 113 games, with 33 goals.
In 1989 came Casiraghi's jump into the big time. He was bought by Juventus for 6.4 billion Lire (approx 3 million Euros). His debut arrived against Bologna on August 27. That year he played 23 times with 6 goals, under manager Dino Zoff. He was also a protagonist in Juventus' 2 Cup triumphs. He scored consistently in the Coppa Italia and got a goal in the UEFA Cup Final against Fiorentina.
His second season in Turin saw the arrival of new manager Luigi Maifredi and by Juventus standards the season was a disaster but Casiraghi continued to perform well.
Things improved in the 1991-92 season with the return of historic and successful manager Giovanni Trapattoni. The zebra's finished in 2nd place and Casiraghi got 7 goals.
The 1992-1993 season started with more competition up front for Casiraghi. Gianluca Vialli (Sampdoria) and Fabrizio Ravanelli (Reggiana) were signed and added to Roberto Baggio and German Andreas Moeller this meant limited playing time for Casiraghi. He played a total of 25 games in all competitions with 5 goals. He was already in the Italy squad so in order to play more regularly and keep his place he decided it was time for a change. At Juventus he played 147 times and scored 36 goals.
At this point of his career Lazio stepped in. He signed for the Romans on 6 August, 1993, initially on loan with a subsequent fee of 10 billion Lire (approx 5 million Euros). He was reunited with manager Zoff and paired up with Signori, who he helped win the Italian Golden Boot. Casiraghi played 31 games and got 5 goals in the various competitions.
The following season 1994-95 new manager Czech Zdenek Zeman was chosen. He was well known for his attacking philosophy and tactics and in fact the trio of Signori, Boksic and Casiraghi made up a formidable scoring machine. Casiraghi himself got 15 goals in 47 games, including 4 against Fiorentina and a memorable acrobatic beauty against Roma in the derby.
The next season, 1995-96, was even more prolific for Casiraghi with 18 goals in 35 games.
In the 1996-97 season Zeman was sacked and back came Dino Zoff. Casiraghi played 31 times with 11 goals.
In the 1997-98 season, with the advent of new manager, Swedish Sven-Goran Eriksson, and forward Robert Mancini from Sampdoria, Casiraghi played less. He did however score in the derby (3-1) and helped Lazio to the UEFA Cup Final with 4 goals (the final was then lost against Inter in Paris). He played a total of 188 games for Lazio with 56 goals. He scored many memorable goals and won the Coppa Italia in 1998.
At 29 years of age he went for an experience abroad. In the summer of 1998 he joined Chelsea for 5.5 million pounds. In London he teamed up with compatriots Gianfranco Zola and Gianluca Vialli and from his Lazio days, Roberto Di Matteo. In his first season Chelsea won the European Super Cup against the mighty Real Madrid. Casiraghi however was not involved. On November 8 disaster had struck. In a game against West-Ham United he badly fractured his leg. Despite several operations he would never play again and at 31 he was finally released by Chelsea and retired. He only played 15 times for the Blues and scored once.
At International level he played 44 times for Italy, scoring 13 goals. He was part of the Italian squad that won a runners-up medal in the USA World Cup in 1994 (defeated by Brazil on penalties).
Since retiring he has gone into management, and between 2006 and 2010 was in charge of the Italy Under 21's (3rd place in Euro 2009 in Sweden). He also managed the Italian Olympic team in Beijing 2008. He has had experiences abroad at Al-Arabi (Qatar) and at Birmingham City (England) as deputy manager.
Before his premature retirement Casiraghi had an excellent career at Juventus and Lazio. He won 2 Italian Cups (Juventus and Lazio), an FA Cup (Chelsea), 2 UEFA Cups (Juventus) and a UEFA Supercup (Chelsea). He also earned a World Cup runners-up medal.
Casiraghi was 1.82 metres tall but he was strong, very strong. At Lazio he was nicknamed Gigi “Tyson” Casiraghi for his sheer physical power. He was a classic centre-forward and a good team player, not being a selfish goal grabber. He was not overly technical but made up for it in strength and acrobatic skills. He was a generous player and opened up space for his teammates. At Lazio Signori in particular thrived from Casiraghi's partnership. He was a favourite at Lazio for his altruism, hard work and unsurprisingly for his goals.
In Rome he will always be remembered for his derby goals, in association with the goal machine Lazio were in those years and linked to their emergence as a trophy winning team.
Lazio Career
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
1993-94 | 31 (5) | 26 (4) | 2 | 3 (1) |
1994-95 | 47 (15) | 34 (12) | 6 (3) | 7 |
1995-96 | 35 (18) | 28 (14) | 3 | 4 (4) |
1996-97 | 31 (11) | 24 (8) | 4 (2) | 3 (1) |
1997-98 | 44 (7) | 28 (3) | 6 |
|
Total | 188 (56) | 140 (41) | 21 (5) | 27 (10) |
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