Game 38, Serie A
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio Udinese 3-1
Hitzlsperger, Floccari and Brocchi give Lazio an end of season satisfaction
Lazio's season had started in a dreamlike fashion. On August 8 in Beijing, the Biancocelesti had defeated José Mourinho's Inter 2-1 to lift the Italian Supercoppa for the third time. Goals by Francelino Matuzalém and Tommaso Rocchi sank the seemingly invincible Nerazzurri (they would soon win the "Triplete").
Lazio started the league with the enthusiasm of having won silverware but realistically did not expect any more miracles from the season.
No miracles but neither for things to be going so badly. Lazio had started well winning the first two games of the season but then things went downhill. Their next win came in the 16th fixture, a 1-0 home win against Genoa. More defeats followed and only one win before Davide Ballardini was finally sacked after a 0-1 home defeat to Catania on February 7. Lazio were 18th, on 22 points and in the Serie B zone, one point behind Catania 17th and safe.
In had come Edy Reja and Lazio won their first match 2-0 away at Parma and Cristian Ledesma was put back in the squad. A week later however, Lazio lost 1-3 away at Palermo. They then drew 1-1 at home to Fiorentina, lost 1-2 away to Sampdoria and 0-2 at home to Bari. The situation was worrying, Lazio were 17th only two points above Livorno who were 18th and in the last relegation slot.
Luckily then Lazio picked up and earned 7 points in three games (Cagliari 2-0 away, Siena 2-0 at home and Milan 1-1 away). There followed 3 wins, a draw and 2 defeats (including derby 1-2). Lazio were now joint 14th, with Cagliari and were safe.
A stressful situation had been salvaged, now there was one last home game to finish a disappointing season well.
The match: Saturday, May 15, 2010, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
There were about 30,000 present for this Saturday game, the last of the season, on a cold rainy evening. The ones present mainly directed their chants at the club owner, Claudio Lotito, and they were far from friendly.
Before the game Ousmane Dabo did a lap of honour to say goodbye to the fans as he was retiring (he then played a few games in the States). A popular player who had also scored the winning penalty in the previous year's cup final triumph.
There were a lot of absences on both sides.
For Lazio: Fernando Muslera, Aleksandar Kolarov, Stefan Radu, Stefano Mauri, Pasquale Foggia, Dabo and Matuzalém.
For Udinese: Samir Handanovic, Dušan Basta, Aleksandar Luković, Gaetano D'Agostino, Paolo Sammarco, Gökhan Inler and Simone Pepe.
Udinese started off trying to take the game to Lazio. In the 16th minute however, slightly against the run of play, Lazio scored. A cracking long range shot by Thomas Hitzlsperger took a light deflection off former Lazio youth player Maurizio Domizzi and beat 19-year-old Venezuelan debutant Romo. Lazio 1 Udinese 0.
Lazio looked in control and always seemed to have an extra man in midfield. In the 20th minute Hitzlsperger almost got his brace but fired high. On the half hour however, the visitors equalised with their most dangerous player. Totò Di Natale got in between Lazio's central defenders and beat Tommaso Berni with a low and well angled right foot. Lazio 1 Udinese 1.
In the 36th minute Rocchi was through but, from a difficult angle, his shot came off the keeper and spun up and out just wide of the far post. The game was suddenly more open but that changed in the 37th minute. Chilean Mauricio Isla was booked for a foul on Cristian Brocchi and then went overboard protesting right up in the referee's face who was provoked into sending him for an early shower.
Marino at this point reshuffled his team into a 3-4-2 with Juan Cuadrado coming on for striker Antonio Floro Flores. Lazio did not take long to take advantage of the extra man. In the 45th minute Sergio Floccari scored with a wonderful curling shot from the edge of the box. Lazio 2 Udinese 1.
In the second half Lazio came on aggressively, looking to close the contest immediately. They did just that in the 52nd minute when Brocchi cut in from the right and with a low left foot beat Romo. Lazio 3 Udinese 1.
Lazio continued to attack but in the 64th minute risked letting Udinese back into it. Di Natale surged forward on the break and squared to Alexis Sanchez but the Chilean, with an open goal, fired over the bar. A goal easier to score than to miss, not this time.
Lazio then dominated and had several more chances especially with Floccari who was keen to beat his record of 12 league goals in a season but Romo showed he had talent and denied the Calabrese striker. One save in particular was difficult, as Floccari had only the keeper to beat.
The game slowly subsided in intensity and ended Lazio 3 Udinese 1.
A deserved win for Lazio, helped by Isla's moment of folly. It is always nice to end the season with a win. Now Lazio had to build on these performances and try and have a better season next year.
Who played for Lazio
Berni, Biava, Dias, Siviglia, Scaloni, Brocchi (88' Baronio), Ledesma, Hitzlsperger, Del Nero (74' Diakité), Rocchi (66' Zarate), Floccari
Manager: Reja
Who played for Udinese
Romo, Ferronetti, Zapata (71' Siqueira), Domizzi, Pasquale, Sanchez, Isla, Asamoah, Pepe (79' Lodi), Di Natale, Floro Flores (42' Cuadrado)
Substitutes: Bucuroiu, Chara Lerma, Obodo, Corradi
Manager: Marino
Referee: Guida
Goals: 16' Hitzlsperger, 30' Di Natale, 45' Floccari, 52' Brocchi
Red card: 37' Isla
Sources
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