Lazio win with great comeback, or so they say…

Season 2002-03

Game 12, Serie A

Sunday, December 1, 2002

Stadio Leonardo Garilli, Piacenza

Piacenza Lazio 2-3

In a game heavily affected by thick fog Lazio recover from a two-goal deficit and win 3-2 in the last seconds

The season so far

This was Lazio's first season without homegrown and possibly best defender in the world Alessandro Nesta. Due to financial difficulties Lazio had been forced to sell their captain to Milan. To make matters worse Milan and Juventus had secretly agreed to keep their bids low, so Lazio were also forced to sell Hernán Crespo to Inter.

Fortunately, Lazio had a new manager. The disappointing Alberto Zaccheroni had been replaced by former player and scudetto winner Roberto Mancini.

The season had started well for Lazio. They had played 11 games, won 7 (5 away), drawn 3 (including derby 2-2) and lost 1 (Chievo 2-3 at home). Lazio had 24 points and were in a healthy 3rd place.

The match

A grey, foggy day in the Po Valley and a sparse crowd at the Garilli.

Lazio were without César who had gone back to Brazil for family issues while Piacenza too were missing Dario Hubner and Johnnier Montano plus Gianluca Lamacchi and Vittorio Tosto suspended. Lazio replaced the Brazilian with Argentine Juan Pablo Sorin while Nicola Boselli and Sergey Gurenko played in midfield for Piacenza and Nicola Caccia-Mauro Obolo up front.

There was a low fog in Piacenza but the match went ahead and the conditions were just about acceptable, for now.

Lazio started strongly and pushed forward, forcing three corners in the first ten minutes. Claudio Lopez looked particularly lively.

In the 18th minute however the home side, against the run of play, took the lead. Enzo Maresca tried his luck from more than 25 metre out, the shot did not look particularly dangerous but Angelo Peruzzi was hesitant, maybe due to the visibility, and dived too late and the ball went in at mid-height off the post. Piacenza 1 Lazio 0.

Lazio took control again but in the 27th minute the Biancorossi made it two. This time it was Obolo who got past Fernando Couto and beat Peruzzi with a shot which did not seem unstoppable. Piacenza 2 Lazio 0.

In the 29th minute Sinisa Mihajlovic was forced off with neck problems, on came Giuseppe Pancaro and Jaap Stam went into the middle.

At this point the fog thickened but Lazio saw the light with a Diego Simeone header, from a Lopez corner, in the 42nd minute. The Lazio fans at the other end only realised "El Cholo" had scored when they saw him emerge from the fog celebrating. Piacenza 2 Lazio 1.

In the 46th minute Lazio equalised. Dejan Stankovic went down the right and put in a low cross, it was met by Lopez who turned a struck a left-footed shot past Guardalben. Piacenza 2 Lazio 2.

A strange game, if only for the climatic conditions, making it extremely difficult for the fans and TV viewers at home to see what exactly was going on. The TV angles were from the touchline and the linesmen had to go onto the pitch to get a better view. It seemed likely the game would be postponed.

After the break came two surprises, one more so than the other. The biggest surprise was that the game would go on, as the fog had lifted slightly. The other was that Peruzzi was being replaced by Emanuele Concetti. The "Cinghialone" (The Wild Boar) had stomach problems and this explained his unusually poor performance.

The clearer visibility lasted about ten minutes then a thick fog again descended on the Garilli but the game continued. The second half saw Lazio increasingly push for a third goal. Again, they forced a long series of corners (they would be 16 in the end) and had several chances.

In the 65th minute Lopez hit the post with a cracking left foot, a few minutes later Bernardo Corradi scored but Sorin was in offside and the goal was disallowed then Stefano Fiore missed from close range.

In the 80th minute Lazio put on another striker, Simone Inzaghi, for midfielder Sorin. Piacenza responded in the same minute replacing an excellent Maresca with former Lazio Dario Marcolin. The home side had already substituted Obolo with Francesco Zerbini in the 56th minute but he then got injured and was replaced by Salvatore Miceli in the 71st minute.

In the last ten minutes Lazio, with Lopez pushing on the wing and two strikers in the area, pegged Piacenza into their own area. In the 92nd minute the Biancocelesti were rewarded. After a corner, Stankovic regained the ball and put in another cross from the left and out of the white blur came Corradi's head putting the ball past Guardalben. This time it was under the Lazio fans so maybe they saw something, at least Corradi running towards them arms outstretched. Nobody really cared what they saw, the important thing was that Lazio had scored. Piacenza 2 Lazio 3.

The referee had only given two minutes of injury time so that was basically it. Final score Piacenza 2 Lazio 3.

A remarkable turnaround in ridiculous weather conditions. Lazio were now top of the table, a completely unexpected and fantastic feeling.

A final anecdote. The Piacenza manager Andrea Agostinelli played for Lazio for many years and is still based in Rome. His neighbour is actually Bernardo Corradi, today's last gasp match winner. No dinner invites for a while between the two.

Who played for Piacenza

Guardalben, Cardone, Boselli, Mangone, Cristante, Riccio, Maresca (80' Marcolin), Di Francesco, Gurenko, Obolo (56' Zerbini, 71' Miceli), Caccia

Substitutes: Abbate, Campagnaro, Stella

Manager: Agostinelli

Who played for Lazio

Peruzzi (46' Concetti), Stam, F. Couto, Mihajlovic (29' Pancaro), Favalli, Fiore, Simeone, Stankovic, Sorin (80' S. Inzaghi), Corradi, C. Lopez