Lazio Perugia 5-0

Season 2001-02

Game 19, Serie A

Sunday, January 20, 2002

Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Lazio Perugia 5-0

The Biancocelesti easily demolish Perugia despite a hostile home crowd

The start of the season was slow. Too slow. The team was unmotivated and badly prepared. Manager Dino Zoff had decided to go for a 3-5-2 squad, but the team was not right. Draw at home against Piacenza, draw against Perugia, draw against Torino. Forced to play against Galatasaray away in the first Champions League match on the infamous September 11, they lost 1-0.

The situation precipitated in the second Champions League match against Nantes. The 3-1 defeat at home was the final nail in the coffin for Zoff. He was replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni, former Udinese and Milan manager.

Zaccheroni’s start in Campionato was a disaster. After five games Lazio were still to win a match and had scored only one goal in Serie A and one in Champions League.

However, things improved, they started to play better and in Serie A by early December they were on a roll: five consecutive wins including a convincing victory against Juventus. But in the next four games they only managed to pick up two points. They were seventh, miles away from the top of the table. Fans were not happy.

The match

The situation was not good and fans voiced their displeasure particularly against Paolo Negro, Beppe Pancaro, Gaizka Mendieta, Stefano Fiore and Claudio Lopez. Alberto Zaccheroni, in an attempt to partially shield the team from the insults, got the players to warm up in the changing rooms rather than under the Curva Nord.

Despite the hostile environment, Lazio immediately went on the attack, favoured by Perugia who approached the game as if they were about to face a firing squad. In the 4th minute Simone Inzaghi hit the crossbar with a header off a Fabio Liverani corner. Five minutes later the Biancocelesti scored. Hernan Crespo went off on the right, low cross in the box, Inzaghi tapped the ball in.

In the 17th minute Karel Pobrosky crossed again from the right, Inzaghi backheeled the ball for Crespo but Michele Tardioli raced towards him, reducing the target, and the Lazio centre forward shot straight at him.

Zaccheroni was forced to substitute Crespo and Inzaghi in the 26th minute due to injury. In came Fiore and Claudio Lopez. Fiore immediately gave a good ball to Lopez who squandered the sitter in front of the keeper. In the 33rd minute Pancaro surged down the right flank and tried a shot, Marco Di Loreto deflected the ball onto the post and Lopez kneed the ball in.

In the beginning of the second half Di Loreto shaved the post from a corner. In the 53rd minute splendid assist from Poborsky to Fiore who volleyed the ball in for the 3-0.

Six minutes later Fiore sent a medium height ball into the box to Dejan Stankovic who lobbed it over the keeper for Lazio’s fourth. Another six minutes later free kick for the Biancocelesti on the left, Liverani crossed into the box, the ball was not cleared by the Umbrian defence and Negro made it five.

A good win for Lazio, a possible return to form? Hopefully.

Who played for Lazio

Peruzzi, Pancaro, Negro, Couto, Cesar, Poborsky, Giannichedda, Liverani (69’ D. Baggio), Stankovic, Crespo (26’ Fiore), S. Inzaghi (26’ Lopez)