Czech mate
A Kozak header six minutes from time gives Lazio a deserved win
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The season so far
The summer transfer window had seen Lazio as one the protagonists with the signing of Brazilian star Hernanes. A midfielder who can use both feet, he was one of the most important and expensive signings of the Claudio Lotito presidency. Other signings included Javier Garrido (Manchester City), Mark Bresciano (free transfer), Alvaro Gonalez (Nacional) and the return of Libor Kozak from his loan to Brescia.
Leaving Lazio were Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City), Emilson Cribari (Napoli) and Stephen Makinwa (loan to Larissa). Julio Cruz, Simone Inzaghi and Sebastiano Siviglia had all retired, Ousmane Dabo, Roberto Baronio and Thomas Hitzlsperger had not had their contracts renewed.
The 2010-2011 season however did not start so well as Lazio were defeated by Sampdoria. From then on however they went on an excellent run and in the following 8 games they won seven and drew only once against Milan. At that point Lazio were top with a 4-point lead. The very controversial loss against Roma, with at least one penalty not given to Lazio, and the bad defeat against Cesena the week after took the Biancocelesti down to second place which they held for some time thanks to wins against Napoli and Inter. The unexpected defeat against Lecce had brought Lazio down to third place.
The match: Sunday, January 16, 2011, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The match was certainly not vintage as Sampdoria basically stayed back defending as if there was no tomorrow with little interest in doing anything more. Lazio on the other hand were tiring in some of their players and had little energy to create anything dangerous especially in the first half. Just a couple of Hernanes’ shots blocked by the keeper in the 18th and 39th minutes. Another shot from Cristian Ledesma in the 24th minute shaved the post.
In the second half Samp seemed to wake up and in the 51st minute a great ball from Angelo Palombo to Giampaolo Pazzini, who moved faster than Modibo Diakité, ready for the impact in front of Fernando Muslera but his volley went over the crossbar. In the 64th minute another shot from outside the box, this time from Mauro Zarate shaved the post.
In the 77th minute enter Libor Kozak and Alvaro Gonzalez in place of Sergio Floccari and Cristian Brocchi. Great decision.
In the 86th minute free kick on the right for the Biancocelesti. Ledesma crossed the ball, the Samp defence tried to put everybody offside but failed, Kozak all alone in the middle of the penalty area had no problem to head the ball past Gianluca Curci.
Game over.
Who played for Lazio
Muslera, Lichtsteiner, Diakité, Dias, Scaloni, Ledesma, Brocchi (77’ A. Gonzalez), Mauri, Hernanes (90’ Foggia), Zarate, Floccari (77’ Kozak)
Manager: Reja
Who played for Sampdoria
Curci, Dessena, Volta, Accardi, Ziegler, Tissone (67' Poli), Palombo, Koman, Guberti (76' Mannini), Pazzini, Pozzi (71' Macheda)
Substitutes: Da Costa, Cacciatore, Lamorte, Fornaroli
Manager: Di Carlo
Referee: Rizzoli
Goal: 84’ Kozak
What happened next
On the whole, it was a very good season for Lazio with a record number of points for the Biancocelesti, in the Serie A format with 20 teams. But it was not quite good enough to get a Champions League qualification. Lazio were in the first four places for most of the season, but fell short just when it was time to cash in. Too many matches that should have been won were lost or drawn (Cesena away, Lecce at home, Cagliari away are just some examples) and the decisive loss at Udine (with Zarate missing a penalty with Udinese down to 10 men) meant that once again Lazio lost out to Udinese on goal difference and arrived 5th.
In Coppa Italia Lazio went out against Roma in the fourth round.
Hernanes was the player with the most appearances (36 in Serie A and one in Coppa Italia) and with the most goals (11 in Serie A and one in Coppa Italia).
What happened in Serie A 2010-11
The previous scudetto had been won by Inter who completed the treble by winning the Champions League and the Coppa Italia. With five games to the end of the season Roma had been ahead with a single point lead over Inter. The Giallorossi then threw away the scudetto by losing at home to Sampdoria, Inter overtook them and maintained the lead of two points until the end.
For the 2010-11 season there had been big changes in managers: Inter said goodbye to José Mourinho and chose Rafael Benitez, Milan were coached by Massimiliano Allegri, Juve by Luigi Delneri. In the transfer market Milan signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and later Robinho and Kevin Prince Boateng, Lazio acquired the services of Hernanes and Napoli got Edison Cavani.
Favourites were obviously Inter, Roma and Milan.
August & September
Sampdoria were involved in the Champions League qualifying round in August against Werder Bremen. They lost 3-1 away in the first leg, scoring in the dying seconds, were 3-0 ahead at home but the Germans scored in injury time taking the tie to extra time. Werder then scored again so Samp would play the Europa League.
In the first two games of the group phase, Inter drew away to Twente and beat Werder Bremen, Roma lost to Bayern Munich but beat CFR Cluj, Milan beat Auxerre and drew away with Ajax.
In July and August Juventus were involved in the third qualifying round for the Europa League. They beat Shamrock Rovers 3-0 on aggregate. In the playoff round to reach the group phase, Palermo eliminated Maribor 5-3 on aggregate, Napoli had the better of IF Elfsborg 3-0 and Juventus beat Sturm Graz 3-1. In the first two games of the group phase, Juve beat Lech Pozman and drew with Manchester City, Palermo lost against Sparta Prague but beat Lausanne, Sampdoria drew with PSV Eindhoven and beat Debrecen, Napoli drew with both Utrecht and Steaua Bucharest.
In August there was the final of the Supercoppa. Inter, who won both the scudetto and Coppa Italia the previous season, played Roma, the Cup finalist and beat them 3-1.
After the first five games of Serie A Lazio were surprise joint leaders with Inter while Roma were struggling, losing to Cagliari 5-1. The Biancocelesti had drawn at home with Milan.
Inter 10, Lazio 10, Chievo 9, Brescia 9, Milan 8, Napoli 8, Catania 8, Bari 8, Juventus 7, Cesena 7, Cagliari 6, Sampdoria 6, Bologna 6, Palermo 5, Fiorentina 5, Parma 5, Genoa 5, Roma 5, Lecce 5, Udinese 1
October
Lazio went ahead following Inter’s draw with Juventus and their win over Brescia and continued to win, extending their lead even further after Milan were beaten at home by Juventus. It was still early stages but the run was remarkable.
In the Champions League Inter beat Tottenham 4-3 and were topping their group. Roma lost at home against Basel but qualification was still reachable. Milan lost against Real Madirid and were second in their group with Ajax.
In Europa League Juventus drew with Red Bull Salzburg away, Palermo lost at home to CSKA Moscow, Sampdoria lost away to Metalist Kharkiv, and Napoli drew with Liverpool.
Lazio 22, Inter 18, Milan 17, Juventus 15, Napoli 15, Sampdoria 14, Chievo 14, Udinese 13, Roma 12, Palermo 11, Genoa 11, Lecce 11, Cagliari 10, Catania 10, Fiorentina 9, Brescia 9, Parma 8, Cesena 8, Bologna 8, Bari 8
November
Lazio lost the lead with two consecutive defeats, in the derby and with Cesena, so Milan went ahead. It was rather obvious that the Biancocelesti could not maintain the lead once the big teams started moving up, but the fact that they had stayed so high up for so long had been fantastic.
In Champions League Inter lost away to Tottenham but beat Twente at home. The Milanese and the Londoners topped their group on ten points and for the last match the Nerazzurri needed to win and hope that Spurs did not. Roma won in Basel and then beat Bayern Munich. In the last game they needed to beat Cluj away and hope Basel did not win in Munich. Milan drew at home with Real and then won at Auxerre, reaching a definite second place with one game to go.
In the Europa League Juventus drew with Red Bull Salzburg at home. Man City and Lech Poznan were on 7 points, Juve on 4. Palermo lost away to CSKA Moscow and in their group they were third on 3 points behind CSKA on 12 and Sparta with 7. Sampdoria drew with Metalist Kharkiv and were third with 5 points behind the Ukrainians, who were on 7 points, and PSV on 10. Napoli lost away to Liverpool and were on three points together with Utrecht and behind Liverpool on 8 and Steaua Bucharest on 5. Qualification was going to be difficult for the Italian teams.
The Coppa Italia had started in August with the first two rounds only involving Serie B and C teams. In the third round on October 12 Serie A clubs joined and there were no major upsets. The winners of the third round played against each other in November and those who qualified for the Round of 16 were Bologna, Genoa, Lazio, Catania, Chievo, Fiorentina, Bari and Udinese who would meet the remaining 8 Serie A clubs between December and January.
Milan 30, Lazio 27, Juventus 24, Napoli 24, Inter 23, Palermo 23, Roma 22, Sampdoria 20, Udinese 20, Chievo 19*, Catania 18, Genoa 18, Cagliari 17, Fiorentina 16, Parma 15, Bologna 14*, Brescia 12, Cesena 12, Lecce 12, Bari 10
* one game in hand
December
Lazio beat Inter in Rome but were beaten by Juventus in the last minute of injury time and were caught up by the Bianconeri and Napoli while Mian went to +6. Then however in the last game before Christmas the Rossoneri lost at home to Roma and their lead was halved. Below, Bari were in trouble. The table was affected by the fact that Inter went to play the Intercontinental Cup so had two games in hand, plus the Genoa derby was postponed due to snow.
Bologna were given a one-point docking for administrative irregularities.
Inter sacked Benitez and chose Leonardo as head coach. The Spaniard had nonetheless led Inter to the Club World Cup (former Intercontinental Cup). They beat South Koreans Seongnam Ilhwa Chuma in the semis and in the final Congolese MP Mazembe, who had surprisingly beaten International de Porto Alegre.
In the Champions League Inter collapsed against Werder Bremen and came second in their group as did Roma, thanks to their draw and Basel’s defeat in Munich. Milan, despite losing at home to Ajax, had already qualified as second.
In the Europa League, Juventus drew their last two games and were eliminated as were also Palermo, who drew with Sparta Prague and beat Lausanne, and Sampdoria who lost their last two matches. Napoli instead qualified thanks to a 1-0 win in injury time against Steaua Bucharest.
In Coppa Italia Parma beat Fiorentina 2-1 in extra time and qualified for the quarter finals.
Milan 36, Napoli 33, Lazio 33, Juventus 31, Roma 29, Palermo 27, Inter 23***, Sampdoria 23**, Udinese 23, Chievo 21, Genoa 21**, Catania 21, Cagliari 20, Bologna 20*, Fiorentina 19**, Parma 19, Brescia 15, Cesena 15**, Lecce 15, Bari 11
* one-point docking
** one game in hand
*** two games in hand
January
Milan pulled away followed by Napoli as Lazio slowed down considerably. Inter beat Napoli who in turn thrashed Juventus. Still quite a lot of teams with one game in hand.
Bologna were given a further two-point deduction, again for administrative irregularities.
In Coppa Italia Palermo, Inter, Juventus, Napoli, Sampdoria (on penalties), Roma and Milan joined Parma for the quarter finals. In the latter Palermo beat Parma on penalties, Milan won in Genoa against Sampdoria, Inter beat Napoli on penalties and Roma won away against Juventus.
Milan 47, Napoli 43, Lazio 40, Inter 38**, Roma 38**, Udinese 36, Juventus 35, Palermo 34, Cagliari 29, Chievo 27, Sampdoria 27**, Genoa 27**, Fiorentina 25**, Bologna 25*, Parma 25, Catania 22, Lecce 21, Cesena 20, Brescia 18, Bari 14
* three-point docking and one game in hand
** one game in hand
February
The games which still had to be played all took place this month so by the end of it one could have a better idea of what was happening in Serie A. Milan still dominated, Inter overtook Napoli and Lazio with Udinese creeping up behind the Biancocelesti. The Rossoneri drew at home with Lazio, Inter smashed Roma 5-3 but lost against Juventus in Turin. Napoli won in Rome against the Giallorossi, the Genoa derby was won by the Rossoblu and Milan crushed Napoli 3-0. It was getting tight at the bottom. Bari were practically relegated but there were eight teams within 10 points of each other and everything could happen.
In the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Roma surprisingly lost 3-2 to Shakhtar Donetsk, Milan to Tottenham 1-0, and Inter 1-0 to Bayern, all at home. Going through to the quarter finals would need a few miracles.
Napoli were eliminated in the Round of 32 of the Europa League by Villareal 2-1 on aggregate.
Milan 58, Inter 53, Napoli 52, Lazio 48, Udinese 47, Roma 43, Juventus 41, Palermo 40, Cagliari 38, Genoa 35, Bologna 35*, Fiorentina 34, Chievo 31, Sampdoria 31, Catania 29, Parma 28, Lecce 28, Cesena 25, Brescia 24, Bari 16
* three-point docking
March
Milan’s lead was reduced to just two points as they lost in Palermo at the end of the month. The Rossoneri had beaten Juve and Roma had won the derby. Down below Brescia lost ground and Cesena moved up a little bit.
In the Champions League Round of 16 Roma were thrashed 3-0 in Donetsk, Milan drew 0-0 in London against Tottenham and both were eliminated. Inter miraculously qualified against Bayern Munich winning 3-2 despite being down 2-1, thanks to a Goran Pandev goal two minutes from time.
Milan 62, Inter 60, Napoli 59, Udinese 56, Lazio 54, Roma 50, Juventus 45, Palermo 43, Fiorentina 41, Bologna 40*, Cagliari 39, Genoa 39, Chievo 35, Parma 32, Catania 32, Sampdoria 31, Cesena 29, Lecce 28, Brescia 26, Bari 17
* three-point docking
April
Milan beat Inter in the derby and raced off as the Nerazzurri also lost in Parma. They now had an eight-point lead with four games to go. Napoli beat Lazio but lost at home to Udinese. The Biancocelesti and Bianconeri were fighting it out for the last Champions League qualification place, with Roma and Juve a bit further behind. In the fight to avoid relegation, Brescia seemed doomed.
In the Champions League quarter finals, Inter were eliminated by Schalke 04. They collapsed at home 5-2 and also lost the second leg in Germany.
In the first legs of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Inter won away against Roma and Milan drew 2-2 with Palermo.
Milan 74, Inter 66, Napoli 65, Lazio 60, Udinese 59, Roma 56, Juventus 53, Palermo 50, Fiorentina 46, Genoa 45, Cagliari 44, Bologna 40*, Chievo 39, Parma 38, Cesena 37, Catania 37, Sampdoria 35, Lecce 35, Brescia 30, Bari 21
* three-point docking
May
Milan secured their scudetto with two games to go after drawing with Roma. It was their 18th title. Udinese beat Lazio and clinched the 4th slot for top tier Europe. Below Sampdoria was sucked down. They first could not beat Brescia, they lost the derby and were then beaten by Palermo. They joined Brescia and Bari in Serie B. A remarkable downfall for a team that only a year earlier had qualified for the Champions League.
In the return matches of the Coppa Italia semi finals, Palermo beat Milan and Inter drew with Roma. The final was played at the Stadio Olimpico and Inter beat the Rosaneri 3-1 to lift the cup.
Milan, Inter, Napoli and Udinese would play in next year’s Champions League, Lazio, Roma and Palermo in Europa League. Atalanta, Siena and Novara were promoted from Serie B.
Antonio DI Natale (Udinese) was top scorer with 28 goals.
Final table: Milan 82, Inter 76, Napoli 70, Udinese 66, Lazio 66, Roma 63, Juventus 58, Palermo 56, Fiorentina 51, Genoa 51, Chievo 46, Parma 46, Catania 46, Cagliari 45, Cesena 43, Bologna 42*, Lecce 41, Sampdoria 36, Brescia 32, Bari 24
* three-point docking
Sources
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