Correa to the rescue at hell's door
A last second equaliser by Correa gives Lazio a deserved point against the visiting devils keeping the one point advantage in the table.
Also today: Today in S.S. Lazio History: November 25, 2007: Lazio Parma 1-0. A last gasp deflected goal by Firmani allows Lazio to honour the memory of Gabriele Sandri. Player of the day: Fabio Firmani
The season so far
Lazio and Milan had the same objective for 2018-19; a place in Champions League, as a 4th place finish was realistically the most either side could hope for.
Lazio and Milan had similar starts to the season. Lazio were 4th despite defeats against Napoli, Juventus, Inter and Roma but wins against minnows pushed them up to a healthy position.
Milan were only one point behind and they too had lost the big games against Napoli, Inter and Juventus. This clash on November 25 was thus considered of crucial importance in the race to the prestige and money of Champions League.
The match: Sunday, November 25, 2018, Rome, Stadio Olimpico
The game played in front of a 40,000 crowd was evenly balanced in the first half. Lazio had more possession and territorial superiority but did not really transform it into chances. It was in fact Milan who came closest to scoring with Hakan Calhanoglu hitting the woodwork with a curling effort which Thomas Strakosha got his fingers to, deflecting it onto the left post. Lazio then also had chances with Marco Parolo and Ciro Immobile but confirmed their difficulties against very defensive line-ups.
The second half was in the same mould. Lazio commanded the operations but found it impossible to break down Milan's well-organised defence. Both sides did however have opportunities; Fabio Borini for Milan had a good shot saved by Strakosha and at the other end Gigi Donnarumma pulled off a miraculous, instinctive save on a Wallace header.
Lazio continued to attack but it was Milan who got the lucky break. A shot by Franck Kessie took a deflection off Wallace and completely wrong footed the Lazio keeper to give the visitors the lead. Lazio predictably intensified their efforts. Simone Inzaghi meanwhile, even before Milan's goal, had substituted Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Luis Alberto with Jordan Lukaku and Joaquin Correa and in the last 10 minutes he would throw on another striker, Ecuadorian Felipe Caicedo. Milan, on the other hand, strangely played out the game with their starting XI line-up.
Lazio's final surge seemed to be running out of time when they were rewarded for their efforts in the dying seconds. The match was into the 4th minute of added time, out of the 5 given, when Correa lurking at the edge of the box domesticated the ball with his thigh and then with a low right footed volley beat Donnarumma. Wild celebrations followed and Lazio were obviously more satisfied than Milan about sharing a point. Lazio too however in the post match interviews had difficulty in deciding whether the “one-point glass” was half full or half empty. It had kept Milan at bay for another week and had come in dramatic fashion but there was also an underlying feeling of a missed opportunity.
Who played for Lazio
Strakosha, Wallace, Acerbi, Radu (82' Caicedo), Marusic, Parolo, Badelj, Milinkovic -Savic (64' Lukaku), Lulic, Luis Alberto (64' Correa), Immobile.
Manager: Inzaghi
Who played for Milan
Donnarumma, Abate, Zapata, Rodriguez, Calabria, Kessie, Bakayoko, Borini, Suso, Cutrone, Calhanoglu
Substitutes: Reina, Plizzari, Conti, Simic, Bertolacci, Mauri, Montolivo, Laxalt, Castillejo, Halilovic, Tsadjout
Manager: Gattuso
Referee: Banti
Goals: 78' Kessie, 90'+4 Correa
What happened next
Despite holding off Milan today, Lazio in the long run were eventually overtaken by the “Rossoneri”. Lazio's Champions League dream petered out and they ended up 8th on 59 points. Their season did however have some high points with a 3-0 demolition of city enemies Roma in the derby and especially with the triumph in the Coppa Italia, in May, beating Atalanta 2-0. Despite unseasonal freezing weather, the Olimpico was on fire that night with goals by Milinkovic-Savic and again Correa helping Lazio lift their 7th Italian Cup.
Milan fared better than Lazio in the league but their lack of quality and attacking spirit showed in the end with a 5th place finish on 68 points, missing out on the 'holy' Champions League spot.
The 2018-19 season was eventually won by Juventus.
Lazio 2018-19
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 56 |
Coppa Italia | 5 | 3 | 2 | - | 8 |
Europa League | 8 | 3 | - | 5 | 9 |
Total | 51 | 23 | 10 | 18 | 73 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Acerbi | 50 | 37 | 5 | 8 |
Immobile | 46 | 36 | 5 | 5 |
Lulic | 46 | 35 | 4 | 7 |
Correa | 44 | 34 | 4 | 6 |
Strakosha | 44 | 35 | 5 | 4 |
Top Five Goal Scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Immobile | 19 | 15 | 3 | 1 |
Correa | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
Caicedo | 9 | 8 | - | 1 |
Milinkovic-Savic | 7 | 5 | 2 | - |
Parolo | 6 | 4 | - | 2 |
Luis Alberto | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
Let’s talk about Francesco Acerbi
Francesco Acerbi, defender, was born on February 10 1988 at Vittorio Predabissi near Milan. He started his football career with Voluntas Brescia, the club in charge of Brescia's very young prospects. In 2001-02 he signed for Brescia and in 2005 he moved to Pavia where he debuted professionally in a Serie C1 match against San Marino. In January 2006 he was loaned to Renate in Serie D but after a month he was back in Pavia. Again on loan to Spezia in 2007, he played in the Primavera team (Under 19's). Pavia then finally decided to stop sending him away and to keep him on. He played two years for the Longobards, in the Second Division of Lega Pro.
In 2010 he signed to Reggina in Serie B in a player sharing agreement and, despite the fact that he was bought by Genoa in January 2011, he stayed in Calabria the whole season. He started the 2011-12 season with Genoa but during the summer, again with the player sharing modality, he signed for Chievo Verona. An excellent year for Acerbi in Verona: debut in Serie A and his first goal.
In the summer of 2012 Genoa acquired the other half of the player from Chievo and then sold him on to Milan. The big break was there for the taking, but the dream lasted only six months. He did not do well and after a short six month spell Milan sold half of the player back to Genoa, who immediately loaned him to Chievo for another brief stint in Verona.
In 2013 he signed with Sassuolo on another player sharing deal. But during his medical, the doctors found he had testicular cancer. He was immediately taken to hospital and the cancer was removed surgically. However, during the course of the season, the tumour returned. Chemotherapy left him debilitated but in 2014 he was back, alive and kicking and played a great season. Sassuolo then also acquired the other 50% of player ownership and he became a fundamental part of the team, playing three seasons at a very high level.
Lazio in the summer of 2018 were looking to substitute Stefan De Vrij who had moved to Inter as a free agent. Acerbi was the man and he signed for Lazio. The fans immediately fell in love with this tall Northern Italian defender and considered him a considerable improvement compared to the Dutchman. He played extremely well and in his first year Lazio won the Coppa Italia and in the second came close to winning the scudetto. Acerbi had a great relationship with everybody and particularly with Ciro Immobile.
In 2021, despite a contract expiring in 2023, he suddenly asked for a pay rise. It was quite out of character especially as he did so via a TV interview. Lazio turned a blind eye despite not being particularly happy, and Acerbi’s contract was renewed to 2025. This was supposed to be a continuation of the honeymoon but instead was the beginning of the end.
The last year under Simone Inzaghi he was no longer the rock of a defender he had been and his year with Sarri was also rather poor. It looked as if he was not following the manager’s indications and the fact Lazio were conceding way too many goals certainly did not help. He also ran into a few problems with the fans. Some inappropriate statements and gestures earned him a lot of boos in the Olympic Stadium. He did apologise but was never forgiven. On the last day of the transfer market in the summer of 2022 Lazio and Inter reached an agreement and Acerbi started playing for Inter on loan, with a buyout option for the Nerazzurri. In 2023 the Neroazzurri signed him on a definite basis.
He played 173 games for Lazio (135 in Serie A, 9 in Coppa Italia, 8 in Champions League, 20 in Europa League and one in Super Coppa) and scored 10 times (9 in Serie A and one in Coppa Italia). He won two trophies: Coppa Italia and Super Coppa.
Acerbi has played 33 times for Italy and scored one goal. He was part of Italy’s victorious campaign at Euro 2020 where he appeared in three games.
Appearances for Lazio
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2018-19 | 50 (3) | 37 (3) | 5 | - | 8 | - |
2019-20 | 45 (2) | 36 (2) | 2 | - | 6 | 1 |
2020-21 | 42 (1) | 32 | 2 (1) | 8 | - | - |
2021-22 | 36 (4) | 30 (4) | - | - | 6 | - |
Totals | 173 (10) | 135 | 9 | 8 | 20 | 1 |
Sources
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