Jose Mourinho and Maurizio Sarri reignited their friendly rivalry as Fenerbahce hosted Lazio at the Ulker Stadium in Istanbul.
Lazio Starting Lineup
In the absence of Gustav Isaksen, Samuel Gigot and Patric, Sarri fielded what appeared to be his best available lineup, with Taty Castellanos spearheading the 4-3-3 formation, flanked by Matteo Cancellieri and Mattia Zaccagni. In the middle of the park, Nicolo Rovella pulled the strings, supported by Matteo Guendouzi and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru.
As for the backline, Oliver Provestgaard once again started alongside Mario Gila in a prova for the Serie A opener (as Alessio Romagnoli will be suspended), while Manuel Lazzari and Nuno Tavares operated in the full-back roles. Finally, Ivan Provedel got the nod in goal.
Goalless First Half
Although this was a friendly contest, both sides showed desire and competitiveness from the get-go. Sebastian Szymański tested Provedel with a good attempt on goal, but the Lazio goalkeeper was equal to it, pulling off a great save. Dele-Bashiru had an attempt on the opposite end of the pitch, but it wasn’t enough to disrupt İrfan Can Eğribayat in his goal.
Matteo Guendouzi Commits Blunder
At the interval, Sarri made four substitutions, while others followed as the second half progressed, while maintaining the same shape. At the hour mark, Guendouzi scuffed a backpass, which allowed İrfan Can Kahveci to score the solitary goal of the contest. The Biancocelesti tried to retaliate, but they were only able to muster a few half-chances.
First Pre-Season Defeat
After beating Lazio U20 and Avellino, Lazio failed in their first real test of the summer. Nevertheless, they will have the chance to rebound swiftly when they move to the other half of Istanbul to take on Galatasaray on Saturday.
Fenerbahce 1-0 Lazio
Scorer: 60′ Kahveci (F)
FENERBAHCE (4-2-3-1) : Egribayat; Muldur (83′ Levent), Akcicek (72′ Caglar), Oosterwolde, Brown (83′ Djiku); Elmaz (57′ Amrabat), Santos; Szymanski, Kahveci (73′ Under), Aydin (57′ Efe); Duran (57′ En-Nesyri,) .
Lazio (4-3-3) : Provedel (61′ Mandas); Lazzari (46′ Marusic), Gila (67′ Hysaj), Provstgaard (46′ Romagnoli), Nuno Tavares (67′ Pellegrini); Guendouzi (67′ Belahyane), Rovella (46′ Cataldi), Dele-Bashiru (46′ Vecino); Cancellieri (61′ Pedro), Castellanos (61′ Dia), Zaccagni (61′ Noslin).
Referee : Zorbay Küçük;
Yellow cards: 45′ Zaccagni (L)
Guendouzi is total shit… sell the lad and let’s use reda and bashiru. Do we have to start the season for him to mess up more before we know we fucked up…
Take it easy man, it was just the first real preseason game.
He was great last season and he will be great again this season.
Andrea Ghandousi was not good even in one single half both of us wanna lazio wining watch last season matches as many as possible most of the problems in lazio from. Middle field especially Ghandousi like lazio play with 10 most of the games and casue pressure on the back line he runs only and most of the time pass ball back doesn’t play with head at all care too much about his hair if lazio play without him they will alot better it is clear