2022-23 Season
Game 16
January 4, 2023
Lecce, Stadio Del Mare
Lecce Lazio 2-1
After a good first 30 minutes Lazio collapse at Lecce
The teams
Maurizio Sarri leaves Luis Alberto and Mario Gila in Rome injured, and decides to leave Felipe Anderson on the bench for the first time this season, as far as the campionato is concerned. Toma Basic is chosen over Matias Vecino, Danilo Cataldi is fully recovered as is Ciro Immobile.
Lecce are very eager to make a good start to the season, confirmed by the record number of spectators this season at Via del Mare.
The match
Lecce start very aggressively but Lazio easily control the match. In the 6th minute Manuel Lazzari does his usual sprint on the right but is fouled from behind by Lameck Banda who is booked. The consequent free kick sees Cataldi put a perfect cross in the box for Nicolò Casale. His header is miraculously saved by Wladimiro Falcone.
In the 14th minute Lazio score. Casale just over the halfway line sees Immobile’s classic movement, ball to him. King Ciro just inside the box on the far right volley’s it towards the far post and it’s 1-0 for Lazio.
Lazio are in complete control. In the 17th minute the Biancocelesti counterattack, Sergej Milinkovi-Savic passes the ball to Immobile who tries an acrobatic volley but the ball is just slightly off target.
In the 24th minute, Lazzari does a box to box on the right, once he is near the Lecce penalty area he crosses for Mattia Zaccagni on the left. The Lazio forward loses a second to switch foot and his shot is parried by a Lecce defender, ball to Basic outside the box but central, his shot though is too high.
Lazio’s game ends here. Lecce towards the end of the first half, sensing that Lazio are mentally out of the match, become increasingly aggressive but they are unable to create any real chances.
The second half is another story. Federico Di Francesco substitutes Banda and in the 47th minute Ivan Provedel makes his first save when the Lecce forward shoots from outside the box.
Lazio are completely out of the game and they cannot make two passes in a row without losing the ball. As a consequence in the 57th minute, Lecce equalise. There is a gap in the centre between Lazzari and Casale. Morten Hjulmand sees it and passes the ball to Di Francesco who runs into the gap and shoots. Provedel saves, but Gabriel Strefezza is quicker than the Lazio defence and volleys the ball in.
Sarri immediately changes a few players and in come Felipe Anderson and Vecino for Pedro and Milinkovic-Savic in the 62nd minute. But Lecce score again.
In the 71st minute Hjulmand sends in a marvellous ball to Di Francesco on the far left of the penalty box. The Lecce forward crosses towards the centre and Lorenzo Colombo taps the ball in.
Nothing else happens. Lazio are completely unable to get back in the game, Lecce control it perfectly with a superlative Samuel Umtiti in defence.
Lazio almost perfect for half an hour, and then a black out. A terrible start to the second half of the season.
Who played for Lecce
Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto, Umtiti, Gallo; Gonzalez (89' Maleh), Hjulmand, Blin (89' Askildsen); Strefezza (73' Oudin), Colombo (84' Ceesay), Banda (46' Di Francesco).
Substitutes: Bleve, Brancolini, Pongracic, Tuia, Voelkerling, Lemmens, Pezzella, Rodiguez . Manager: Baroni.
Who played for Lazio
Provedel; Lazzari, Casale, Romagnoli, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic (61' Vecino), Cataldi (79' Marcos Antonio), Basic (85' Romero); Pedro (61' Felipe Anderson), Immobile, Zaccagni (79' Cancellieri).
Substitutes: Maximiano, Adamonis, Patric, Hysaj, Radu, Floriani M., Bertini.
Manager: Sarri
Referee: Marinelli
Goals: 14' Immobile, 57' Strefezza, 71' Colombo
Bookings: Banda, Casale, Gallo, Hjulmand, Cancellieri
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