Enter Pandev, Lazio get going
Lazio win the game thanks to a great performance from Pandev coming on from the bench
Also on this day:
The season so far
After a difficult first season under President Claudio Lotito, things began to be a little more organised in the 2005-06 season. A new experienced manager was chosen, Delio Rossi, and some interesting players were brought in: Valon Behrami, Guglielmo Stendardo and Gaby Mudingayi, all players that had done very well in Serie B the previous season. The Biancocelesti said goodbye to Roberto Muzzi, Paolo Negro, Giuliano Giannichedda and Fernando Couto plus many of the players bought at the last minute the previous year.
The Lazio official season started in mid-July with the Intertoto Cup. Lazio managed to participate because Messina were not interested in participating. Lazio easily dismissed Tampere United in the quarterfinals but fell to Olympique Marseilles in the semis.
Lazio had European ambitions and their start to Serie A was a good one with four wins in the first seven games. Very strong at home but away from home they were unable to switch their defensive mentality to a more attacking one. This meant that Lazio suffered away from home and against the big teams and when things were not working team-wise, there was trouble. The previous weekend the Biancocelesti had finally won after a five-game drought and were currently mid-table on 19 points.
The match: Sunday, December 4, 2005, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The Irriducibili staged a protest in the first 15 minutes against President Claudio Lotito, guilty of not wanting to sell his shares, deciding to come into the stands only after a quarter of an hour.
Without Massimo Oddo and Tommaso Rocchi, manager Delio Rossi opted to use Paolo Di Canio and Igli Tare in attack and put Goran Pandev on the bench.
In the first 15 minutes Lazio could have scored twice. In the tenth minute César crossed from the left, the ball, deflected by a defender, reached Di Canio who tried a difficult volley parried by Antonio Mirante. Another cross from the left, this time by the Lazio hero, reached Tare who tried an acrobatic volley which Mirante yet again managed to parry.
The Irriducibili at this point came in, and Lazio mentally left the game. Siena could have done something but they were too busy defending the goalless draw to think about attacking and since the Biancocelesti were not really doing anything themselves, boredom prevailed.
All this changed in the final minutes of the first half. In the 42nd minute Di Canio received the ball in the box on the right near the by-line. He feigned to shoot and then tried a difficult shot, Mirante saved. A few seconds later, Manuel Belleri crossed from the right, Tare headed the ball towards the goal, Mirante made a remarkable save but could do very little to stop Di Canio’s tap in. 1-0 to Lazio and first goal of the season for the former Hammer.
In the beginning of the second half, Tare headed the ball to César who galloped towards the box and once in dribbled past Igor Tudor but instead of passing the ball to Tare or Di Canio he tried an impossible shot which went nowhere.
Then, out of the blue, Siena equalised. In the 52nd minute Paolo Foglio crossed from the right, Erjon Bogdani, man marked by little Belleri, did not have to jump too high to head the ball and when he did Angelo Peruzzi could do nothing about it.
At this point Delio Rossi decided to send in Pandev and out went Di Canio, not entirely pleased with the decision. But the move worked. In the 61st minute Ousmane Dabo lobbed the ball towards the centre just outside the Siena penalty area, Sebastiano Siviglia headed towards Goran who controlled the ball, turned around and passed to César. Splendid shot from the Brazilian, Lazio back ahead.
At this point Siena tried to get back into the game and in the 70th minute Roberto D’Aversa gave Peruzzi some work to do on a free kick. In the 78th minute Foglio hit the top of the crossbar again on a free kick. But in the 80th minute the Biancocelesti closed the game. Pandev dispossessed Simone Vergassola, quick counter attack, ball to Tare who made it three.
Siena still tried to get back into the game but a Massimo Marazzina header shaved the post. In the 90th minute Cristian Molinaro crossed from the left, Peruzzi had all the time in the world to grasp the ball mid area, but he fumbled and sent it into his own net. 3-2 but there was no time left.
Good win, despite the absences.
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Belleri, Siviglia, Cribari, Zauri, Behrami, Dabo, Liverani (90’ Baronio), Cesar (68’ Manfredini), Di Canio (59’ Pandev), Tare
Manager: D. Rossi
Who played for Siena
Mirante, Negro, Tudor, Legrottaglie, Bachini (46' Locatelli), D'Aversa, Foglio, Vergassola, Gastaldello (73'Molinaro), Chiesa (70' Marazzina), Bogdani
Substitutes: Fortin, Portanova, Paro, Volpato
Manager: De Canio
Referee: Marelli
Goals: 42’ Di Canio, 53’ Bogdani, 61’ Cesar, 80’ Tare, 90’ Peruzzi (og)
What happened next
Lazio managed to be more consistent in the rest of the season. The signing of Stefano Mauri in January was able to give the team what they needed on the left and also some inventiveness. After the match against Ascoli, Lazio only lost three times (Palermo, Roma and Inter).
This consistency brought with it a place in the UEFA Cup for the next season, secured with two games to go. Unfortunately Lazio were penalised 30 points for their “alleged” involvement in the Calciopoli scandal, so missed out on Europe in the end.
Zauri was the player with most appearances (45 including Coppa Italia and Intertoto) and Rocchi was the leading goal scorer (17).
Lets talk about Christian Keller
Christian Thielsen Keller was born on August 7, 1980 in Brørup, Denmark. He started playing football with Vejle in the Danish top tier and stayed with them for three years during which the club was relegated but promoted the season after. In 2002 he signed with Viborg and played for three years. In the summer of 2005 Keller joined Torino who had just been promoted in Serie A. But the club was in huge financial difficulty and could not continue. They were declared bankrupt in November. At this point Keller was a free agent and he signed with Lazio.
In Rome he did not play much, just nine appearances, and left little trace.
In August 2006 he signed for Stabæk in Norway. Two years later he won the league, reached the final of the national cup and won the Super Cup. He stayed there until July 2009 making 94 appearances with 9 goals.
He then moved South to Turkey and began playing for Kasımpaşa. He stayed two seasons (65 appearances) but in the second the club was relegated. In 2011 he went back to Denmark to play with Randers. He stayed for five years with the club and was also captain. In March 2016 the Danish tabloids allegedly claimed that he was having an affair with the ex-wife of a teammate, Jonas Borring. The two had separated but were living in the same house due to the children. The Randers manager, Colin Todd, stopped playing Keller and in the summer the contract was dissolved by mutual consent.
His last year of active football was with Viborg again in 2016.
Keller played quite a number of games for his country, albeit always in the youth teams: 4 appearances with the Under 16s, 16 with the U-17, 5 in the U-19 and 2 with the Under-21s.
Lazio Career
Season | Appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
2005-06 | 9 | 7 | 2 |
Sources
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