Pre-Season Friendly
Monday, August 5, 2002
Pride Stadium Park, Derby
Derby County Lazio 1-2
An evenly balanced game is decided by a Crespo winner
This today was Lazio's second friendly of their British tour. A week earlier Lazio had clinched a prestigious victory at Anfield by beating Liverpool 1-0, with a goal by César.
The match
A crowd of 25,000 came to Pride Park to see the Rams last pre-season friendly but also obviously to admire some of Lazio's international stars (Alessandro Nesta, Jaap Stam, Hernan Crespo to name a few). Alas the famous Baseball Ground (built in 1890) had not been used since 1997.
Just like in Liverpool a week earlier Lazio started cautiously. They absorbed some pressure from Derby and then gradually grew into the game. Playing against English sides this time of year obviously meant coming up against fitter teams as their leagues were about to start.
Both sides had chances; Crespo almost took advantage of a defensive blunder, Luca Marchegiani nearly gave a goal away trying to dribble Malcolm Christie and Diego Simeone had a long-range lob go wide.
Lazio slowly but surely took control of the game and took the lead just before halftime. In the 40th minute a cross by Simeone (crowd enemy number one for getting David Beckham sent off in the '98 World Cup) was met by César whose half bicycle kick was saved by Mart Poom but on the rebound Guerino Gottardi put Lazio ahead. Derby 0 Lazio 1.
Lazio had controlled the game well after an initial onslaught by the Rams and took the advantage to halftime.
It was Nesta's debut from the start (he played the last 20 mins at Anfield) so he stayed in the changing rooms as did keeper Marchegiani and on came Fernando Couto and Emanuele Concetti. The beginning of the second 45 minutes saw a similar pattern to the early spells of the first. Derby surged forward at a high tempo while Lazio tried to slow things down and exploit their superior skill.
In the 56th minute Lazio made five substitutions all at once; out went Massimo Oddo, Guerino Gottardi, Simeone, Roberto Baronio and Simone Inzaghi for Jaap Stam, Dino Baggio, Stefano Fiore, Fabio Liverani and Claudio López.
Whether it was the confusion due to all the changes or the result of Derby's sustained pressure, the fact is the Rams equalised. In the 58th minute a Fabrizio Ravanelli header was palmed away by Concetti but Adam Murray slammed it home. Derby 1 Lazio 1.
At this point Lazio got the upper hand again and started to dominate the midfield with Liverani and Fiore dictating the proceedings. Derby were still dangerous however, with Morris forcing Concetti to make a difficult save and Couto saving the day with a last ditch tackle, again on Lee Morris. Lazio went ahead in the 71st minute. An Argentine combination between López and Crespo put "El Valdanito" in a scoring position and he did not miss. Derby 1 Lazio 2.
Lazio then controlled Derby's late push for an equaliser and conquered their second consecutive victory in the land of Albion. Final score Derby County 1 Lazio 2.
A good test for Lazio with plenty of player rotation and the reassuring return of captain Nesta. Two more fixtures were on the cards in England, a match at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers on August 9 and Tottenham Hotspurs at White Hart Lane on August 11.
Who played for Derby County
Poom, Barton (78' Mawéné), Boertien, Higginbotham (78' Evatt), Jackson, Bolder, Lee (76' Mustoe), Murray (76' Grenet), Ravanelli (79' Strupar), Christie (85' Tudgay), Morris (78' Twigg)
Substitutes: Oakes, Elliot, Robinson
Manager: Gregory
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani (46' Concetti), Oddo (56' Stam), Negro, Nesta (46' Couto), Pancaro (68' Stankovic), Gottardi (56' D. Baggio), Simeone (56' Fiore), Baronio (56' Liverani), César, S.Inzaghi (56' Lopez), Crespo
Substitutes: Giannichedda
Manager: Mancini
Referee: Riley
Goals: 40' Gottardi, 58' Murray, 71' Crespo
Sources
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