No contest
Lazio dominate and annihilate the Giallorossi
Also on this day:
January 15, 1989, Lazio Roma 1-0. Di Canio gives underdogs Lazio fantastic derby glory and a whole generation a new ecstatic experience, a victory over hated city rivals.
January 15, 1995, Lazio Foggia 7-1. After a balanced and goalless first half everything changes in the second with Foggia in ten men.
The season so far
The world and football were still very much affected by the Covid-19. Matches were being played in empty stadiums but, as they say, the show must go on.
Lazio had finished 4th the previous season. Until February Lazio were unstoppable and considered the favourites for the Scudetto but then the pandemic changed everything.
Lazio had confirmed Simone Inzaghi as manager after the previous year's Champions League qualification. This season Lazio were not the almost perfect machine they had been up until lockdown, but they were now showing signs of improvement.
Lazio had made some changes to the squad in the summer but the majority of the new players were proving to be disappointing. The new arrivals were veteran goalkeeper Pepe Reina (Milan), defenders Wesley Hoedt (Southampton- back on loan), Mohamed Fares (Spal), midfielders Jean Daniel Akpa Akpro (Salernitana), Andreas Pereira (Man.U- loan), Gonzalo Escalante (free agent -Eibar) plus striker Vedat Muriqi (Fenerbahçe). In January Lazio added defender Matteo Musacchio (Milan) to their books.
These new players were to various degrees underperforming and not adding quality and the depth of choice Inzaghi had hoped for. On a more positive note, Ciro Immobile was still firing away and already had 11 league goals.
Leaving Lazio had been goalkeeper Guido Guerrieri (Salernitana), defenders Jordan Lukaku (Antwerp), Wallace (Yeni Malatyaspor), Bastos (Al-Ain), midfielders André Anderson (Salernitana-loan), Milan Badelj (Genoa), Jony (Osasuna- loan with option to buy) and striker Bobby Adekanye (Cadiz- loan). In January there had been further departures; defenders Riza Durmisi (Salernitana- loan), Denis Vavro (Huesca-loan) and goalkeeper Silvio Proto had retired.
In the first match of the season Lazio were defeated by Atalanta. In the following 16 games they had won 8, drawn 4 and lost 4. The Biancocelesti came into this match after two consecutive wins, the last was a 2-0 away win at Parma. Lazio were currently 6th on 28 points, five points off 4th placed Atalanta, in the last Champions League position.
In the Champions League they got through the group stage unbeaten with 2 wins (Borussia Dortmund and Zenit St. Petersburg both 3-1) and 4 draws (Zenit, Borussia D and twice with Brugge). The bad news was that they had then drawn Bayern Munich in the last 16 and would play the German giants home and away in February - March..
In the Coppa Italia Lazio's campaign would start on January 21 at home to Parma.
Roma had finished 5th the previous season under Paulo Fonseca. Both derbies had ended 1-1. Top scorer was Edin Džeko with 19 goals (16 in A).
This season the Portuguese coach was still in charge. Roma had been busy on the market. Arriving were: defender Rick Karsdorp (Feyenoord - back from loan), Marash Kumbulla (Verona), forwards Pedro (Chelsea) and Borja Mayoral (Real Madrid - two-year loan). Roma had also spent 44 million Euros to definitely buy defenders Gianluca Mancini and Chris Smalling and midfielder Jordan Veretout.
Leaving the Giallorossi were: defenders Davide Zappacosta (Chelsea - end of loan, then Genoa), Aleksandar Kolarov (Inter), midfielder Diego Perotti (Fenerbahçe), forwards Cengiz Ünder (Leicester City - on loan) and Justin Kluivert (RB Leipzig - on loan).
So far, Roma were in 4th position on 34 points. The Lupi had won 10, drawn 4 and lost 3. A week earlier Roma had drawn 2-2 at home to Inter.
In Coppa Italia they would debut in a few days’ time at home to Spezia on January 19.
In the Europa League they had qualified for the knockout stage, the round of 32. In the group stage the Giallorossi had won 4 (Young Boys and Cluj home and away), drawn 1 (CSKA Sofia at home) and lost 1 (CSKA away). They would now play Portuguese club Braga in February.
A strange derby on Friday evening in an empty stadium but a Roman derby is always a huge match and all over the city the fans would be glued to the TV screens.
The match: Friday, January 15, 2021, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
There were no fans inside the stadium but as usual the "derby della capitale" had been the talk of the town all week.
Neither Lazio nor Roma had any injury or suspension issues so fielded their best 11's.
In the first fifteen minutes the teams sized each other up and not much happened.
Then the game suddenly came to life. On the quarter hour mark Ciro Immobile picked up a loose ball in midfield and opened to Manuel Lazzari down the right wing where he was anticipated by Roger Ibañez who however messed up his control and the ball, also touched by Lazzari, spun across the area to Immobile who pounced and beat Pau López. Lazio 1 Roma 0. A major blunder by the Brazilian defender and it would be by no means his last either in this derby or in future derbies.
Roma had no reaction and in the 24th minute Lazio scored again. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic sent Lazzari charging down the right wing where he won the sprint with Ibañez who seemed to foul him inside the area but no whistle came so Lazzari got up and teed up Luis Alberto who placed a surgically precise low right footed strike to Pau López' right. Lazio 2 Roma 0.
Roma stirred but all they could muster was a Henrikh Mkhitaryan half volley which went a metre or so wide. Half time Lazio 2 Roma 0.
For the second half Roma put on a more attacking Pedro for midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini. It made little difference and Lazio continued to be in total control.
Lazio had more chances. A Luis Alberto-Immobile move was finished off by Milinkovic-Savic but saved well by Lopez. Then an Immobile initiative challenged by three defenders ended with the ball spinning to Felipe Caicedo in front of goal but the Ecuadorian could not get enough power on his volley and Lopez blocked. Luis Alberto then sent Immobile bursting into the area on the left but his powerful cross goal effort was parried away by the Roma keeper.
The goal was coming and it came in with 23 minutes to go. By then Lazio had subbed Lucas Leiva for Gonzalo Escalante and Caicedo for Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro while Roma had changed Villar for Bryan Cristante.
In the 67th minute Lazio scored a great goal. The move started in their own half and after a myriad of tight, short passes Lazzari burst into Roma's half, ball to Akpa Akpro on the right who squared it centrally, Immobile dummied and Luis Alberto, the "Mago" from San José del Valle, controlled the ball at the edge of the box and curled a low shot in near the far post. Lazio 3 Roma 0. Total annihilation.
Lazio then replaced Luiz Felipe with Patric while the Giallorossi tried to add some energy by changing Leonardo Spinazzola with Bruno Peres and throwing on another striker Borja Mayoral for Gianluca Mancini but the game did not change.
With seven minutes to go and with the game won Lazio brought on Wesley Hoedt and Vedat Muriqi for Stefan Radu and captain Ciro Immobile.
Roma were dead and buried but they did have one shot at goal late on to save their faces. Rick Karsdorp crossed in from the right and the ball went through the whole crowded area and reached Edin Džeko on the far post, the Bosnian hit it low with his left foot from close range but Pepe Reina saved with his thigh. Final score Lazio 3 Roma 0.
The Biancoceleste side of town celebrated in front of their TV screens while the Giallorossi probably turned theirs off as soon as possible.
An ultimately easy win for Lazio. They had taken advantage of Roma's defensive weaknesses and then cruised to a comfortable win. If anything, the Biancocelesti could and should have won by more goals. Not that any Lazio fans were complaining.
Lazio moved up to 7th on 31 points while Roma remained 4th but were caught up by Napoli on 34.
Who played for Lazio
Reina, Luiz Felipe (69' Patric), Acerbi, Radu (83' Hoedt), Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic, Leiva (65' Escalante), Luis Alberto, Marusic, Caicedo (65' Akpa Akpro), Immobile (83' Muriqi)
Manager: Inzaghi
Who played for Roma
Pau Lopez, Mancini (70' Mayoral), Smalling, Ibañez, Karsdorp, Villar (60' Cristante), Veretout, Spinazzola (71' Bruno Peres) Pellegrini (46' Pedro), Mkhitaryan, Dzeko
Substitutes: Fuzato, Farelli, Kumbulla, Fazio, Juan Jesus, Diawara, Podgoreanu, Perez
Manager: Fonseca
Referee: Orsato
Goals: 15' Immobile, 24' Luis Alberto, 67' Luis Albertoù
What happened next
Lazio finished 6th in Serie A and above Roma. The Biancocelesti won the next three but, despite some more good wins (including Milan 3-0), they also lost the decisive games against Napoli (2-5) and Roma (0-2) plus defeats at Fiorentina, Sassuolo and Bologna, all 0-2. They qualified for the Europa League with 21 wins, 5 draws and 12 defeats. Top scorer was Immobile with 25 (20 in the league).
In Coppa Italia Lazio beat Parma 2-1 but were then knocked out by Atalanta 2-3 away.
In the Champions League Bayern Munich proved far too good and overcame Lazio 6-2 on aggregate.
Roma finished 7th and qualified for the first ever Conference League. Top scorer was Borja Mayoral with 17 goals across all competitions while in Serie A it was Mikhitaryan with 13.
In Coppa Italia they lost 2-4 at home to Spezia but it was then changed to 0-3 as Roma had made one substitution too many...
The Giallorossi reached the semi-finals of Europa League but were trounced (again) by Manchester United this time 8-4 on aggregate. Roma had eliminated Braga, Shakhtar Donetsk and Ajax to get that far.
Serie A was won by Inter for the 19th time. Going down to Serie B were Parma, Crotone and Benevento. The two southern clubs are now both in Serie C.
Let's talk about Nicolò Armini
Nicolò Armini was born in Marino (Rome) on March 7, 2001.
He was formed as a footballer with Santa Maria delle Mole and from 2016 in the Lazio academy. At 15 he was called up by the Italy U15s and then the U16s and scored his first goal against Poland. In 2017 he was chosen for Italy U17s and was also made captain.
His first call up for Simone Inzaghi's Lazio first squad came for a Europa League game against Zulte Waregem on December 7, 2017. He continued representing his country, now with the U17's.
His actual debut for Lazio was against Apollon Limassol on November 29, 2018, when he came on in the 85th minute for Felipe Caicedo.
He then made his Serie A debut against Bologna on May 20, 2019.
In this period (2017-21) he was still playing for the primavera team (U19's) but was often called up to the first team squad. He made 3 league appearances.
In the summer of 2021, he joined Piacenza on loan. The Emiliani were in Serie C, coached by Cristiano Scazzola and finished 9th. Armini played 18 league games. In this period, he was selected for Italy U20s.
In 2022-23 he spent a season on loan at Potenza. The Rossoblu from Basilicata were in Serie C and finished 9th. The manager was first former Lazio player Sebastiano Siviglia (1-10) followed by Giuseppe Raffaele (11-38 and playoffs) and Armini made 22 league appearances.
In 2023 he joined Potenza definitely and signed a two -year contract. The Leoni finished 16th after changing manager five times; Alberto Colombo (1-7), Pietro De Giorgio (8), Franco Lerda (9-16), De Giorgio again (17-19), Marco Marchionni (20-36) and De Giorgi for a third spell (37-38 and play-outs). The Rossoblu stayed up via the play-outs. Armini played 26 league games and scored his first professional goal.
In the summer of 2024, he was sold to Crotone. The Calabresi are in Serie C and the manager is Emilio Longo.
Armini is a centre-back. At 1.85 he is a strong defender and was considered one of Lazio's most promising prospects. In his early days with the Biancocelesti he was even compared to the great Alessandro Nesta.
It is fair to say that unfortunately, so far he has not fulfilled those expectations but he is only 23 so there is still some hope.
Lazio Career
Season | Total played (Goals) | Serie A | Europa League |
2018-19 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
2019-20 | 1 | 1 | - |
2020-21 | 1 | 1 | - |
Total | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Sources
Komentāri