Maurizio Sarri’s second Lazio reign began with a defeat at the Stadio Sinigaglia at the hands of his former Chelsea player, Cesc Fabregas, and his highly impressive Como band.
Lazio Starting Lineup
Sarri began his second reign with a 4-3-3 formation spearheaded by Taty Castellanos. The Argentinian was flanked by Matteo Cancellieri and club captain Mattia Zaccagni. In the middle of the park, Danilo Catldi got the nod instead of Nicolo Rovella, who became a father this weekend following the birth of his daughter.
Matteo Guendouzi and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru took the box-to-box roles, while Manuel Lazzari, Mario Gila, Oliver Provstgaard and Nuno Tavares formed the backline ahead of Ivan Provedel.
Tepid First Half
Como were clearly the better side in the first period, as they dominated possession, and unlike Lazio, they were able to put together decent passing combinations. However, Cesc Fabregas’ men weren’t able to test Provedel on too many occasions, as their most dangerous attempt came from Mergim Vojvoda, who was denied by the Biancocelesti custodian.
Nevertheless, the visitors slightly improved towards the end of the first half. Tavares and Cancellieri combined to set up Guendouzi, but his tame shot failed to trouble Jean Butez. Afterwards, Castellanos had a half-hearted penalty shout, but the VAR dismissed it following a swift review.
Como Break the Deadlock
After the break, the home side took a deserved lead. Nico Paz skipped past Tavares rather easily before setting up Anastasio Douvikas with a stunning through ball between Provstgaard and Gila. The Greek striker attacked the ball with pace, kept Gila at bay, before putting a low shot past Provedel, who put a leg to it, but the power took it beyond him.
Castellanos’ Equalizer Disallowed
Lazio thought they had equalized when Gila found Castellanos with an excellent long ball. The Argentinian striker controlled it expertly before beating Butez, but was then denied by the most marginal offside position.
Nico Paz Doubles Como’s Lead
While Sarri was hoping to turn the tide by introducing the likes of Pedro and Rovella, it was Como who added to their lead thanks to an astonishing freekick from Paz. The Lariani almost made it 3-0, but Vojvoda was denied by the post.
What’s Next for Lazio
Lazio started their campaign on the wrong foot, and as we all know, they won’t be able to make any adjustments to their squad due to the transfer ban. Nevertheless, the Biancocelseti supporters will be expecting a significantly improved display when they host Hellas Verona at the Stadio Olimpico next Sunday.
Como 2-0 Lazio
Scorers: 47′ Douvikas (C), 73′ Nico Paz (C)
Como (4-2-3-1) : Butez; Van der Brempt (69′ Smolcic), Ramon, Kempf, Valle; Da Cunha, Perrone (79′ Caqueret); Vojvoda, Paz (79′ Sergi Roberto), Rodriguez (92′ Kuhn); Douvikas (69′ Morata).
Lazio (4-3-3): Provedel; Lazzari (Marusic 60′), Gila, Provstgaard, Tavares (Pellegrini 65′); Guendouzi, Cataldi (Rovella 65′), Dele-Bashiru (Dia 75′); Cancellieri (Pedro 60′), Castellanos, Zaccagni.
Referee: Gianluca Manganiello (Pinerolo section); Assistants: Meli – Alassio; Fourth official: Turrini; VAR: Aureliano;VAR : Chiffi
Yellow cards: 16′ Nico Paz (C), 30′ Zaccagni (L), 38′ Van der Brempt (C), 75′ Castellanos (L), 75′ Guendouzi (L)
Brutal opener. Zero effort and they looked exhausted. Not a good sight for an opening game
Grella on CBS summerized it perfectly – it was like top 4 club was playing against bottom 10 provincial team. Total dominance! In Every Aspect of the Game! Lazio showed nothing. Niente. Nulla.
But it’s not the players. It’s the coach. It is his responsibility to prepare players for the match. And he failed enormously! Sarrismo is not working. It wasn’t working for the last 4 years and it’s not gonna work for 5th.
Fck 4 3 3. It doesnt work this is why we let sarri walk the first time. We will be at the bottom of the table this year. Then maybe sarri can go home and Lotito will finally realize that his process fa schifo probio.
I couldn’t agree more!
To all the tacticians in the comments: How many professional football clubs have you coached?
Unfortunately with these midfield especially Ghanndouzi who can not play any header from last season not strong in contact with opponents could not deliver ball to front line
Provedal very weak and always pass ball wrong nashiro not good plus expired strikers layers like pedro and maruvic lazio from now won’t win too much competition and hopefully will get in top 15 very poor my self won’t waste time watching games and i m sorry to see lazio like this
Before this match i gave a perfect prediction for the outcome of this game.. u don’t need to be a tactician to see common sense.. we have watched the games for so long we know what works and what would fail.. listing the football of 1970 is not the same as today… u don’t expect players who have the tendency to keep playing from the back to have limited midfield.. the current lazio squad can’t play a 4-3-3 PERIOD! I dnt get it.. how do u bench Rovella for cataldi? Casti and Guendouzi were just part of the starting 11.. I swear the player who proved his worth was provestard…the young lad was the only life lazio had on the pitch. The sarri ball won’t work. This is como, what then if we face Inter or Juve? Switch the formation. Play a 3-5-2 give the boys more attacking options upfront and ball possession.. even a 4-4-2 is perfect for this guys.. the 3 man midfield with the current players we have is not gonna WORK.. FUCKKKKKKKK