Immobile and Luis Alberto give Lazio three points in an extremely complicated game against Verona
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had changed manager, from Simone Inzaghi to Maurizio Sarri, and had had difficulties in adapting to a new style of play, from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3. The problems were particularly in defence but in the second half of the season there was an improvement in set up and Lazio finished sixth, qualifying for the Europa League.
For the 2022-23 season there were new players: goalkeepers Luis Maximiano (Granada) and Ivan Provedel (Spezia), defenders Mario Gila (Real Castilla), Alessio Romagnoli (free agent) and Nicolò Casale (Verona), midfielders Marcos Antonio (Shakhtar) and Matias Vecino (free agent) plus forward Matteo Cancellieri (Verona). Leaving Lazio were Pepe Reina, Thomas Strakosha, Luiz Felipe and Lucas Leiva (contracts not renewed), Francesco Acerbi (loan to Inter), Jean-Daniel Akpa-Akpro (loan to Empoli), Raul Moro (loan to Ternana) and Jovane Cabral (end of loan).
It was still early stages in Serie A. Lazio had started well beating Bologna and Inter and after 5 games had 8 points.
The match: September 11, 2022, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Maurizio Sarri made a few changes compared to previous games. Marcos Antonio started instead of Danilo Cataldi who got a one-game suspension due to blasphemy, just one final added bonus from the Lazio-Napoli game. Due to this decision Luis Alberto was on the bench. Sarri thought that a midfield made up of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Marcos Antonio and Luis Alberto was a bit too lightweight, at least for the moment. Also, in the team today was Nicolò Casale as Alessio Romagnoli was not 100%. Just one change for Verona: Federico Ceccherini took Pawel Dawidowicz' place in defence.
Both teams were very cautious. The previous year, Verona's man-to-man marking had given them a lot of headaches, so today Lazio started rather cautiously, similar to how they played against Torino. Presumably Sarri thought that at a certain point Verona would inevitably tire so there was no need to give them any unnecessary chances.
The first scoring opportunity for Lazio came in the 19th minute when Felipe Anderson tried to dribble the entire Verona defence only to kick the ball way too high once in front of the goal. Immediately after, Kevin Lasagna flew past the Lazio defenders but his shot went wide.
The biggest opportunity for Lazio came in the 27th minute. Mattia Zaccagni to Ciro Immobile who set up Toma Basic for the shot. His whack was deflected onto the woodwork by Lorenzo Montipò.
Four minutes later Ivan Provedel cleared his penalty box only to pass the ball to Filippo Terracciano just over the halfway line. His lob did not even go near the goal. Verona lost Miguel Veloso in the 36th minute due to injury. He was substituted by Adrien Tameze.
Another chance for Lazio in the 42nd minute. Manuel Lazzari charged down the centre right again and went into the penalty box. Instead of passing the ball to his expectant teammates, he shot … wide.
In the second minute of injury time, an Ivan Ilic corner reached Thomas Henry. His shot bounced off the top of the cross bar.
After nine minutes of the second half, Sarri decided it was time for Luis Alberto. Basic was the sacrificial lamb. In the 60th minute another two changes for Verona: Ceccherini and Terracciano were substituted by Juan David Cabal and Fabio Depaoli. Five minutes later Lazio made another two changes: Felipe Anderson and Marcos Antonio were substituted by Matteo Cancellieri and Matias Vecino.
Luis Alberto had a chance to put Lazio in the lead in the 65th minute. Milinkovic-Savic passed the ball to the Spaniard who had to take a few strides to reach it, just outside of the penalty box near the byline. Ball to Adam Marusic who, with his back to the goal, passed it to Immobile. Ball back to Luis Alberto who in the meantime had sneaked into the box but the shot was wide.
Verona were pulling back a little and Lazio started to threaten. In the 68th minute Milinkovic-Savic put a perfect cross into the penalty box from the right. Montipò stayed put and Immobile, on the far left, beat Isak Hien and headed the ball in. 1-0 for Lazio.
Verona made the last two changes: in came Ajdin Hrustic and Yaya Kallon substituting Darko Lazovic and Lasagna. Lazzari suffered an injury in the 75th minute and Elseid Hysaj took his place as right back.
Verona tried to equalise but it was Lazio who had a couple more chances. In the 78th minute Immobile got away from his marker but his shot was saved by the goalkeeper who then was quicker than Ciro to snatch the rebound from his feet. Montipò saved again from a Cancellieri shot five minutes later.
In the first minute of injury time Verona almost equalised. Henry dispossessed Hysaj and crossed to Ilic. He had the time and the gap to put the ball past Provedel but his shot was too central and the Lazio goalkeeper saved. Four minutes later Lazio made it two. Zaccagni got hold of a loose ball and moved to the far left at the top of the penalty box. Ball to Luis Alberto just outside who shot. 2-0 for Lazio. Game over.
Lazio perhaps did not play especially well, but they showed maturity and patience. They had a game plan and stuck to it.
Who played for Lazio
Provedel, Lazzari (75' Hysaj), Patric, Casale, Marusic; Basic (55' Luis Alberto), Marcos Antonio (65' Vecino), Milinkovic-Savic, Felipe Anderson (65' Cancellieri), Immobile, Zaccagni
Manager: Sarri
Who played for Verona
Montipò, Ceccherini (61' Cabal), Hien, Coppola, Terracciano (61' De Paoli), Ilic, Veloso (36' Tameze), Doig, Lazovic (70' Hrustic), Lasagna (70' Kallon), Henry.
Substitutes: Berardi, Perilli, Faraoni, Verdi, Hongla, Djuric, Piccoli, Gunter, Dawidowicz, Cortinovis.
Manager: Cioffi
Referee: Irrati
Goals: 69 Immobile, 90'+5' Luis Alberto
What happened next
At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were third in the company of Inter and Roma and one point behind Milan. Napoli had pulled away and had a 12-point lead. Lazio had beaten Inter, Roma, Atalanta and Milan. The Biancocelesti continued with their good form, beating Roma again, Napoli away and Juventus. They finished second behind Napoli. To note is that Lazio had only come second three times before, 1936-37, 1994-95 and 1998-99, so this year’s result was a positive rarity in Lazio's history.
They had arrived third in their Europa League group and were forced to play in the Conference League where they were then were eliminated in the round of 16 by AZ Alkmaar. In Coppa Italia they had been eliminated in the quarter finals by Juventus.
The player with most appearances was Felipe Anderson (50) but Ivan Provedel was the player with most minutes (4361). Top scorer was Ciro Immobile with 14 goals.
One of the more positive things of the season was the 21 clean sheets. The defensive issue of the previous year was gone.
Lazio 2022-23
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 60 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 |
Europa League | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
Conference League | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Total | 50 | 26 | 11 | 13 | 73 |
Top five appearances (complete statistics)
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Conference League |
50 | 38 | 2 | 6 | 4 | |
47 | 36 | 2 | 6 | 3 | |
46 | 36 | 2 | 5 | 3 | |
45 | 38 | - | 6 | 1 | |
45 | 35 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
Top five goal scorers (complete statistics)
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Conference League |
14 | 12 | - | 1 | 1 | |
Felipe Anderson | 12 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic | 11 | 9 | - | 2 | - |
Mattia Zaccagni | 10 | 10 | - | - | - |
Pedro | 8 | 5 | - | 2 | 1 |
Let's talk about Marcos Antônio
Marcos Antônio Silva Santos, more commonly known as Marcos Antônio, was born on June 13, 2000 in Poções, Brazil. He started playing football in the youth sector of Atlético Paranaense in 2014 and four years later signed for Estoril Praia in the Portuguese second tier. After six months he moved and signed for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. It may seem a strange move but the Ukrainian club has historically had numerous Brazilian players. He stayed until 2022 making 98 appearances with 8 goals. He won the Ukraine championship twice (2018-19 and 2019-2020), a national Cup (2018-19) and a Super Cup (2021).
In July 2022 he signed for Lazio. He stayed for one year, not finding a lot of playing time (21 appearances with one goal). He suffered the more physical nature of the Serie A. Being a lightweight playmaker, he certainly had the skills but not the necessary power. In 2023 he was loaned to PAOK but his season was marred by injury. He will now play for Săo Paulo, again on loan, with an obligation to buy following a number of conditions.
He has played a number of games for the Brazilian Under 17 national team as well as the Under 20. In the former he won the South American Championship and came third in the World Cup.
Lazio fans remember him for his positive attitude and his wonderful smile. A pity he could not stay longer.
Lazio Career
Season | Total apperances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Conference League |
2022-23 | 22 (1) | 16 (1) | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Sources
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