Immobile and Luis Alberto further depress Napoli
Lazio sweep away a demoralised Napoli thanks to the dynamic duo
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The season so far
The previous season Lazio had come fourth securing a Champions League qualification for the first time since 2007. At one point there were even scudetto hopes, but the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic and the forced stoppage took away the exceptional state of form Lazio were in so they had to settle for fourth.
This season there were high hopes to maintain the position acquired last year and to do well in CL. In the summer transfer window new players arrived: Pepe Reina (free agent), Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro (Salernitana), Gonzalo Escalante (free agent), Mohamed Fares (Spal), Andreas Pereira (on loan from Manchester United), Vedat Muriqi (Fenerbahçe) and the return of Wesley Hoedt on loan from Southampton. Leaving Lazio were Jordan Lukaku (loan to Antwerp), André Anderson (loan to Salernitana), Jony (loan to Osasuna), Bobby Adekanye (loan to Cadiz), Valon Berisha (Stade Reims), Riccardo Kishna and Ivan Vargic who had not renewed their contracts.
The summer was characterised by the possible arrival of David Silva, splendid Spanish midfielder who had not renewed his contract with Manchester City. The first contacts between the player's agent, his brother Nandez Jimenez, started on July 27. The first offer arrived on August 4: three-year contract, 10 billion euros gross, apartment in central Rome, use of private jet. Jimenez arrived in Rome on August 7 to fine tune the details and all was decided. David Silva would be playing for Lazio.
Slight problem. He had not signed the contract. Lazio sent the documentation and waited. The agent literally disappeared and Silva continued to train with Man City. Sports director Igli Tare tried to reach out to the player and his entourage but to no avail. The club decided to issue an ultimatum for August 16. Still no news. On the 17th Jimenez contacted Lazio to say that the deal was off and a few hours later Silva signed for Real Sociedad.
What happened? David Silva’s agent used Lazio to get a deal with Real Sociedad. As a consequence, with the fans fuming with anger at Tare for not having closed the deal, the club got anxious and signed Muriqi paying him way too much. But Igli needed to send a sign to calm things down. A big mistake.
The season started in late September and so far the Biancocelesti had not done well. They were seventh, tied with Atalanta. They had won five (two in the last two games) and drawn with Inter and Juve but had also been crushed by Sampdoria away and Atalanta at home as well as losing against Udinese and Verona at the Olimpico.
In the Champions League it was a different story. In their first game against Erling Haaland’s Borussia Dortmund, Lazio put on a marvellous display and won 3-1. With four draws and two wins they clinched second place, but would now have to face Bayern Munich in the Round of 16.
A win today would be important
The match: Sunday, December 20, 2020, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio started the game well and in the 8th minute Manuel Lazzari crossed from the right for Ciro Immobile who controlled the ball with his chest and tried a volley that went only slightly high. A minute later Stefan Radu to Adam Marusic on the left, cross into the penalty area and King Ciro headed the ball into the goal.
In the 15th minute free kick for Lazio. Luis Alberto sent a ball into the box for Luiz Felipe but his header was way too high. In the 18th minute Andrea Petagna dribbled past Wesley Hoedt on the right and once in the box near the byline crossed back centrally for Piotr Zielinski. Nice curling shot, Pepe Reina parried into corner. The Pole had another chance from the corner but again Reina managed to save the shot. In the 32nd minute Felipe Caicedo tried a shot from outside the box, wide by a whisker.
In the 56th minute Lazio doubled the score. Bad pass in the Napoli half by Mario Rui, Gonzalo Escalante intercepted and immediately passed to Immobile. King Ciro saw Luis Alberto arriving on his left, ball to him, perfect curling shot, Lazio 2 Napoli 0.
There was still plenty of time to play, but Napoli gave up and did nothing. Lazio were able to control the game easily without too much effort.
Good win for the Biancocelesti.
Who played for Lazio
Reina, Luiz Felipe (85' Patric), Hoedt, Radu, Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic (85' Akpa Akpro), Escalante (76' Cataldi), Luis Alberto, Marusic, Caicedo (67' Muriqi), Immobile (79' Andreas Pereira)
Substitutes: Strakosha, Alia, Armini, Adeagbo, Franco, D. Anderson
Manager: Inzaghi
Who played for Napoli
Ospina, Di Lorenzo, Koulibaly (55' Manolas), Maksimovic, Mario Rui (64' Ghoulam), Fabian Ruiz, Bakayoko (64' Lobotka), Zielinski, Politano (55' Elmas), Petagna, Lozano (74' Malcuit)
Substitutes: Meret, Contini, Rrahmani, Hysaj, Demme, Llorente
Manager: Gattuso
Referee: Orsato
Goals: 9’ Immobile, 56’ Luis Alberto
What happened next
The season was characterised by great games, on a par with the previous season, and matches where Lazio were completely absent. So often the team would make three steps forward one week and two back the week after. And these steps back were often against “weaker teams”.
Why were there problems? There were probably four reasons.
Lazio, for the first time in many many years, were in the Champions League. This sapped some of the strength out of the team.
The second problem was that the players purchased in the summer were not doing well and the much-needed reinforcements came in areas where there was no need (€20 million for Vedat Muriqi) instead of where they were desperately needed (defence).
Simone Inzaghi was making many mistakes. He chose Mohamed Fares and the return of Wesley Hoedt in the transfer window and they were just not good enough; he kept on insisting to play Joaquin Correa who was the shadow of the previous season; kept Luis Alberto on the pitch for 90 minutes on his off days and substituted him early in the second half on his good days; had problems in reading the games and therefore often blundered substitutions. The management of Thomas Strakosha was also terrible and ruined not only the player but also his relationship with the club.
The last problem was Covid. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Lazio had lost themselves. Before Covid they were on top of their game, since, they were struggling.
In the Champions League the Biancocelesti managed to reach the knockout phase but were eliminated by Bayern Munich. In Coppa Italia they reached the quarter finals but were defeated by Atalanta.
At the end of the first half of the season they were sixth with Napoli and had four consecutive victories, including a 3-0 in the derby. The wins on the trot (including beating Atalanta in Bergamo) became six before falling to Inter. However, an unjustifiable loss at Bologna in February took them back to where they started. Another five consecutive wins allowed the Biancocelesti to fight for 4th place before being hammered 5-2 by Napoli. There was still hope after beating Milan at home for 3-0 but another black out against Fiorentina and a dismal performance against Roma were the nail in the coffin as far as a Champions League qualification went. At least Lazio qualified for the Europa League.
The player with most appearances this season was Marusic with 46 games and the top scorer was obviously Immobile with 25 goals.
Let’s talk about Gonzalo Escalante
Gonzalo Escalante was born on March 27, 1993, in Bella Vita near Buenos Aires. He started playing football in the youth teams of Boca Juniors and debuted in the first team in the 2013-13 season. After 11 appearances in two years, he was loaned to Catania in Serie B, He stayed a year in Sicily playing 26 games with one goal.
In 2015 he signed with Eibar in La Liga. He played five seasons with them for a total of 155 appearances and 10 goals. He proved to be a good defensive midfield player and was always in the starting eleven. At the end of his contract, he chose not to renew and signed for Lazio.
Simone Inzaghi considered him a reserve and in the 2020-21 season he made 25 appearances. Once Maurizio Sarri became manager, Escalante saw the pitch just once so in January 2022 he went on loan to Deportivo Alaves where he played more regularly. Back in Rome briefly he was then loaned to Cremonese in Serie A but after six months came back to then join Cadiz, again on loan but with an obligation to buy if the team managed to stay in the first tier. They did and he remained in Spain. In the 2023-24 season however they were relegated.
It was a pity that his Lazio stay was so brief. He got little playing time and was ignored once Sarri arrived.
Lazio career
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League |
2020-21 | 29 | 21 | 2 | 6 |
2021-22 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
Total | 30 | 22 | 2 | 6 |
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