Zaccagni on target
A Mattia Zaccagni double brings Lazio a well-deserved win
Also on this day: February 12, 1967, Lazio Lecco 2-0. Lazio close this important game in the second half. Player of the day: Antonio Maggioni
The season so far
The 2021-22 season started practically just a few days after the end of the previous one. Simone Inzaghi, Claudio Lotito and Igli Tare met in the evening of May 23 to discuss the manager’s contract renewal. By the very early hours of the 24th all was settled: Inzaghi would sign another contract with Lazio and was expected at the club headquarters the next morning. This is what he told his closest collaborators as well as a few players.
What was really happening? Apparently Inzaghi was buying time, faking a possible renewal with Lazio while at the same time negotiating a deal with Inter. On the morning of the 24th, Simone called Lotito to basically say “sorry, ain’t coming in this morning, gonna sign with Inter”. A shock for Lazio who really did not expect to lose Inzaghi. Apparently Inzaghi and Tare had even spoken about the summer transfers. Everything had been agreed. Lazio had to start from scratch.
Lotito at this point had to decide what to do. So he chose change, drastic change, both in mentality and professionalism: in came Maurizio Sarri. This meant moving from the Inzaghi classic 3-5-2 formation to 4-3-3, a BIG change.
Lazio had budget problems and could not invest too much on new players: in came Mattia Zaccagni, Pedro, Toma Basic, Elsied Hysaj, Luka Romero and the return of Felipe Anderson. Senad Lulic and Marco Parolo did not have their contract extended and Lazio also said goodbye to Joaquin Correa and Felipe Caicedo.
The season started well with two wins but then it became very inconsistent. Great wins (Inter, Roma), great collapses (Bologna, Verona, Napoli), completely incapable of finding some kind of happy medium. Whereas from an attacking point of view the team were doing well, they were terrible defensively, from the goalkeeper to the central defenders but the midfield was also to blame, unable to give sufficient cover. Some players adapted perfectly to the new system (Ciro Immobile was scoring more than ever, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was having his best season at Lazio), others were having problems (Luis Alberto, Francesco Acerbi, Luiz Felipe, Manuel Lazzari). But Sarri did warn everybody that the first season was going to be a transitional one, and that it was preparatory for 2022-23.
The Europa League Group stage was determined by an incredible howler by Thomas Strakosha which cost Lazio the match against Galatasaray. This undermined the rest of the tournament and Lazio arrived second in their group and would play Porto in the playoff.
In Coppa Italia, the Biancocelesti struggled at home against Udinese and only won in extra time. The quarter final, played a few days before the Bologna game, against Milan was a disaster with Lazio having another one of those black outs. They lost 4-0 and were eliminated.
The match: Saturday, February 12, 2022, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio immediately took possession of the game and went one up in the 13th minute. Mattia Zaccagni in the box on the left tried to pass to Immobile but the Bologna defence cleared. Ball to Adama Soumaoro who while leaving the penalty box decided to elbow Zaccagni in the face. Penalty. No problem for Ciro Immobile and 1-0 for Lazio.
Five minutes later a powerful shot by Milinkovic-Savic was saved into corner by Lukasz Skorupski. This more or less ended the first half. Both teams tried to make something of the match but Lazio were not able to create anything decent and Bologna were totally out of the game though they did have a minimum of possession.
Things changed in the second half. After a minute Denso Kasius’ low cross was back-heeled by Marko Arnautovic but Strakosha was not caught unawares. In the 49th minute Pedro crossed from the right, Immobile was probably fouled but promptly got up, in the meantime Zaccagni had the ball, passed it to Ciro but his shot was too high.
Four minutes later Lazio scored again. Zaccagni to Luis Alberto, the Spaniard waited a little bit for the Italian to sprint towards the penalty box, ball in the gap, and Zaccagni made it 2-0.
In the 63rd minute, Luis Alberto to Lazzari on the right, low cross to the centre of the box and Zaccagni scored his double.
In the 72nd minute Zaccagni created havoc again, this time ball to Felipe Anderson on the right of the penalty box, big whack but Skorupski saved. Bologna did try to get into the game but a Musa Barrow shot went just wide in the 73rd minute.
Great game from Lazio with a second 3-0 in a row after winning in Florence a week earlier.
Who played for Lazio
Strakosha, Lazzari, Luiz Felipe, Patric (77' Radu), Marusic, Milinkovic-Savic (82' Basic), Leiva (65' Cataldi), Luis Alberto, Pedro (65' Felipe Anderson), Immobile, Zaccagni (77' Moro).
Substitutes: Reina, Adamonis, Kamenovic, Hysaj, André Anderson, Cabral, Romero.
Manager: Sarri
Who played for Bologna
Skorupski, Soumaoro (58' Bonifazi), Medel, Theate, Hickey (78' Vignato), Svanberg, Schouten (65' Aebischer), Soriano (46' Barrow), Dijks (46' Kasius); Orsolini, Arnautovic.
Substitutes: Bardi, Molla, Binks, Mbaye, Viola, Sansone.
Manager: Mihajlovic
Referee: Piccinini
Goals: 13' Immobile (pen), 53' Zaccagni, 63' Zaccagni
What happened next
Lazio managed to gain a little bit of stability as the season progressed. There was an improvement in their defensive setup and less of the usual black outs even though there was one in the derby which Lazio lost 3-0. Against Napoli and Milan Lazio lost in the dying minutes and that was a real pity. Europa League qualification was ultimately secured thanks to a last minute goal in Turin against Juventus and the draw at home in the final game against Verona also secured 6th place.
In Europa League Lazio were unlucky against Porto. Despite showing that potentially the Biancocelesti were a better team, they lost in Portugal 2-1 due to defensive errors and only managed to draw 2-2 at home.
The player with most appearances was Felipe Anderson (48) and the top goal scorer was obviously Immobile with 32 goals. He was the top scorer in Serie A for the fourth time, the first Italian player ever to reach such a feat.
Lazio 2021-2022
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 77 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Europa League | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
Total | 48 | 21 | 14 | 13 | 88 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
48 | 38 | 2 | 8 | |
Milinkovic-Savic | 47 | 37 | 2 | 8 |
45 | 35 | 2 | 8 | |
Luis Alberto | 44 | 34 | 2 | 8 |
Cataldi | 42 | 32 | 2 | 8 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Immobile | 39 | 27 | 1 | 4 |
Milinkovic-Savic | 11 | 11 | - | - |
Pedro | 10 | 9 | - | 1 |
7 | 6 | - | 1 | |
Luis Alberto | 5 | 5 | - | - |
Zaccagni | 5 | 4 | - | 1 |
Let's talk about Mattia Zaccagni
Mattia Zaccagni was born in Cesena on June 16 1995.
He started his career in the youth team of Bellaria Igea Marina in the Second Division of Lega Pro and in 2012 made his debut in the A team. In 2013 he was loaned to Verona where he played in the youth team and a year later, having been bought by the Scaligeri, he was sent to Venezia in Lega Pro to gain experience. He played quite a number of games and did so well that Verona decided to use him in Serie A.
His debut in Serie A was on September 23 2015 against Inter. However he was not used much so in January 2016, Verona loaned him to Cittadella, again in Lega Pro, and there he contributed to their promotion to Serie B.
Back at Verona in Serie B for the 2016-17 season, he was one of the protagonists of their return to Serie A but his 2017-18 season in the first tier was cut short due to a serious injury. Following a full recovery, Verona got promoted again into Serie A in 2018-19 with Zaccagni contributing 31 games and scoring 3 goals. He became an important player in the team and even improved his scoring abilities. With Verona he played mainly at midfield.
After a couple of games in Serie A for Verona in the August of 2021, he was signed by Lazio on loan. His first year was marred by an injury which saw him out of the team for the beginning of the season. He also struggled a bit to find a decent level of form, but once he did he became a real asset for the Biancocelesti. Sarri put him on the left wing to exploit his dribbling ability and also his speed.
A typical Zaccagni play is getting away from his opponents with a movement towards the centre. By doing this he is often fouled so he gains some useful free kicks.
In his first year at Lazio he played 36 games (29 in Serie A, 2 in Coppa Italia and 5 in Europa League) and scored 5 goals (4 in Serie A and one in Europa League).
In March 2022 he also earned his first cap for Italy in the friendly against Turkey.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
2021-22 | 36 (5) | 29 (4) | 2 | 5 (1) |
Sources
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