Lazio demolish Napoli
A goal from Floccari and one from Zarate kill off Napoli and give the Biancocelesti first place.
Also on this day: November 14, 2002: Red Star Belgrade Lazio 1-1, UEFA Cup Second Round. Thanks to a goal 13 minutes to the end, Chiesa secures the UEFA Cup third round
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 2010-11 season however did not start so well as Lazio were defeated by Sampdoria. From then on 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 before today's match, had dampened enthusiasm.
The match: Sunday, November 14, 2010, Rome, Stadio Olimpico
The game got off to a slow start and in the first ten minutes the only thing that happened was a tame shot by Ezequiel Lavezzi in the 8th minute. And then Mauro Zarate came to life. He had not scored at the Olimpico for 14 months but today he looked particularly inspired.
In the 15th minute Stefano Mauri sent in a wonderful pass over the Napoli defence. Zarate was too fast for anyone and put it on the far side, beating De Sanctis. Wonderful goal and 1-0 for Lazio.
After going ahead Lazio pulled back a bit and Napoli took over. In the 28th minute Mauro Lavezzi hit the crossbar after Hassan Yebdah had two shots walled by the Lazio defence. The Biancocelesti tried to ease the pressure and there was a probable penalty ignored by the referee in the 32nd minute. Sergio Floccari took advantage of a ricochet and was fouled from behind by Gianluca Grava with only De Sanctis to beat. Not according to the referee Mauro Bergonzi.
In the second half Lazio put their foot on the accelerator and in the 61st minute scored again. Hernanes was fouled outside the area, the ball however fell to Zarate who passed it to Floccari unmarked in the centre of the penalty box. Too easy for Sergione and 2-0.
Lazio was on fire. Zarate’s shot in the 67th minute was saved into corner by the Napoli goalkeeper. Napoli tried a comeback but the Biancocelesti almost made it three, again thanks to Zarate. His shot from outside the penalty box hit the crossbar in the 77th minute.
Lazio took the three points and were back in second place.
Who played for Lazio
Muslera, Lichtsteiner, Biava, Dias, Radu, Brocchi (39’ Matuzalem), Ledesma, Hernanes, Mauri (74’ Bresciano), Zarate, Floccari (86’ Garrido)
Manager: Reja
Who played for Napoli
De Sanctis, Grava (63' Sosa), Cannavaro, Campagnaro, Maggio (55' Zuniga), Yebda, Pazienza, Vitale, Hamsik (78' Dumitru), Lavezzi, Cavani
Substitutes: Iezzo, Cribari, Santacroce, Blasi
Manager: Mazzarri
Referee: Bergonzi
Goals: 15' Zarate, 61' Floccari
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 had been 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 and 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).
Let's talk about: Sergio Floccari
Sergio Floccari was a big, strong, but modern centre forward. Skillful with his feet, good header, not a goal scorer like Ciro Immobile, but good for the team.
Born in Vibo Valentia on November 12 1981, he started his football career in Nicotera before his formative youth training for Catanzaro. After not much luck playing for Avezzano, Montebelluna and Mestre, he started to show promise in 2001-02 with Faenza in Serie C2. Genoa noticed him and he moved to Liguria to play in Serie B. However in January 2003 he was sold to Rimini, again in Serie C2. The seaside team in three years climbed to Serie B and Floccari made a good contribution of goals.
In January 2006 he made his debut in Serie A with Messina against Lazio. He would stay in Sicily for a year and a half before being signed by Atalanta. After two years he was back at Genoa but for the second time his spell in Liguria only lasted six months.
In January 2010 he started his adventure with Lazio. He scored two goals in his first match for the Biancocelesti, 8 goals in total in his first half season with Lazio. He however missed a decisive penalty in the derby, something which is not done!
In 2010-2011 he was Edy Reja’s centre forward and played 30 games. The next year he was sent out on loan to Parma. He returned to Lazio in 2012-2013 and was back-up for Miroslav Klose, so he did not play so regularly, but he was often used in Europa League where he scored 4 goals.
A winning header in injury time in the Coppa Italia semi-final against Juventus, sent Lazio to the final which would see the Biancocelesti triumph against Roma.
He continued to play for Lazio until January 2014 when he was sold to Sassuolo. In Emilia-Romagna he played more for the team and started scoring less. He stayed there for two half-seasons and a full one before being sold to Bologna in January 2016. A year later he moved to Spal in Serie B and helped them to a historic promotion to Serie A. He played in Ferrara until the end of the 2020-2021 season when he quit football.
Sergio Floccari is now a commentator for DAZN.
He played 106 games for Lazio (83 in Serie A, 6 in Coppa Italia, 16 in Europa League and one in the Supercoppa) and scored 31 goals (21 in Serie A, 2 in Coppa Italia and 8 in Europa League).
He will be forever remembered for the wonderful header against Juventus and for being part of the team that won the 2012-13 Coppa Italia agaisnt Roma.
Lazio Career
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Jan-Jun 2010 | 18 (9) | 17 (8) | 1 (1) | - | - |
2010-2011 | 31 (9) | 30 (8) | 1 | - | - |
2012-2013 | 36 (10) | 22 (5) | 4 (1) | 10 (4) | - |
2013-Jan 2014 | 21 (4) | 14 | 0 | 6 (4) | 1 |
Total | 106 (31) | 83 (21) | 6 (2) | 16 (8) | 1 |
Sources
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