At the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo in Venice, Lazio extended their unbeaten Serie A run by beating Giovanni Stroppa’s men, who have yet to earn a point this season.
Venezia were the superior side in the first half, but failed to capitalise on their many scoring opportunities. They couldn’t even score a penalty, as Christos Mandas denied John Yeboah. On the contrary, Mattia Zaccagni made no mistake from the spot, giving the Biancocelesti the lead after the interval, while Tijjani Noslin confirmed the win by heading home the second.
It’s now time to hand out our player ratings for Lazio, who are once again the joint Serie A leaders alongside Roma and Inter Milan after beating Venezia on the road.
Lazio XI (4-3-3)
Christos Mandas – 7.5
A superb display from the Greek international who voted the Man of the Match. Although he gave away a penalty with a foul on Thierry Correia, it was actually Floriani’s fault. Instead, Mandas saved the spot-kick, and then performed other solid stops to deny Simon Sohm, Akor Adams, and Antoine Hainaut.
A well-deserved clean sheet.
Romano Floriani Mussolini – 5.5
The young full-back was taken off the hook when Mandas saved Venezia’s penalty, as it all stemmed from his poor attempt to head the ball back to his goalkeeper. He surged forward constantly, but his deliveries at times lacked quality.
Josip Sutalo – 7
The Croatian didn’t put a foot wrong all evening. Made a perfectly timed interception to prevent Adams from going one-on-one with Mandas, and his quality on the ball was evident with every touch.
Oliver Provstgaard – 5.5
A less convincing display from the Dane, who at times failed to properly close down his man, giving him enough time and space to shoot.
Nuno Tavares – 7
The Portuguese international confirmed his excellent form with another convincing display. He was a constant presence in Lazio’s attacks, and capped off his evening by delivering the assist for Noslin’s goal.
Davide Frattesi – 6
The Italian international kept a low profile all evening, as he focused on doing the dirty work in midfield.
Venezia 0-2 Lazio: Biancocelesti Catch Roma & Inter at the Summit
Reda Belahyane – 6.5
The Moroccan is making the Regista role his own, at least until Nicolo Rovella’s return. Helped the defenders deal with Yeboah and Adams’ threat, and he almost scored after a give-and-go with Noslin.
Kenneth Taylor – 6.5
The former Ajax man worked tirelessly for as long as he lasted. While it wasn’t his most productive display, he still proved decisive by winning the spot-kick that culminated in the opener.
Matteo Cancellieri – 6
The Roman’s non-stop running and tracking back is one of the main reasons that endeared him to Gattuso. He also threatened with a lovely long-range curler, but he still needs to do more in the final third.
Tijjani Noslin – 7
Another action-packed display rewarded with a goal for the Dutchman, who took his header expertly. It will be difficult for Gattuso to drop him from the lineup.
Mattia Zaccagni – 7
The Lazio captain was decisive once more, as he finally ended his nine-month goal drought with an excellent spot-kick. The winger also contributed with a ‘pre-assist’ to Tavares on the second goal.
Substitutes
Albert Gudmundsson – N/A
Andrea Pinamonti – N/A
Manuel Lazzari – N/A
Alfonso Pedraza – N/A
Gustav Isaksen – N/A
What with attention Zacagni’s penalty kick, Noslin’s at the 16m line, stumbling after being pushed inside the area while trying to gain best position for a possible rebound. Such an attitude, my favorite for the time being.
What do you think of Gattuso?
Still under scrrutinity. Lucky, chaotic and more close to moron than respectable manager.
Amazing Mandas! Since he came to Lazio I always thought he was better shot stopper than Provedel. So I was pretty pissed when Sarri benched him, then promised him some games and then never did it. I am glad he came back. Couldn’t care less about leg play, for me golie is 99% about preventing goals!
Especially after Provedel was based upon stats the second goalkeeper after Montipo. It’s great that Mandas gets a chance, unfortunately no Coppa Italia for Motta.
Mandas if he gets better at the ball, he definitely could be a stable goalkeeper for a long time.
Bad news for Motta though, feels like a dream to have two good and young goalkeeper but at some point i can imagine us letting go of one so we dont ruin his career
@Michel Sakr: Lazio is highly over performing at the moment. Which is great. You gave Noslin a 7, which for a player that scored isn’t all too high. But definitely think we shouldn’t go to over board with him. (like some are doing)
Noslin scored a great header, but to say that he played a ‘good’ match. Not so sure, he was the first half one of the weakest links. He also delivered after Frattesi* (52%) of the starters the lowest passing accuracy. (74%) With the overall of the other starters (outside of Frattesi and Noslin) being around the 90%. He also had only 6 passes in the final third, which is dramatically low for a player in his position. (9th of the Lazio players overall) He also got into 8 duels of which he won only 3 (38%). While he won 2 aerial duels of which one ended up being the goal. (40%)
Which in my opinion was a big reason that Lazio was so ineffective in the 1st. If the striker doesn’t contribute by being a link-up player, everything has to come from the sides. Making Lazio extremely predictable. (Which Lazio thus far has gotten away with)
Also if you look at Lazio’s chances, all of them Noslin himself didn’t contribute to (link-up play):
– shot of Cancellieri
– how the penalty came about
– cross to Noslin
So yes he scored, but without the penalty. It would’ve been a very hard match. Noslin wasn’t the one who changed the match.
*: Frattesi did create 2 key chances, despite low accuracy.
Well said and agreed. Noslin seems better at attacking plays as opposed to holding up the ball. We had great possession and play in the first 30 and it’s always a shame to see it break down when it hits the feet of a striker and they can’t hold it up or connect another pass successfully.
He at least needs to score regularly if this aspect of his game is going to continue to be missing.
It’s difficult to get the player ratings 100% correct. I rarely agree with the ratings, but they are usually in the correct range.
Romano, for example, should be lower than 5.5.
If Mandas doesn’t bail him out on the PK, it’s very likely this game ends in a draw or a loss.
Apart from his gaffe – he was average.
Well, as you rightly pointed out, 7/10 is hardly a high rating for a player who scored. There was no reason to further elevate him, but I saw no reason to downgrade him either.
Personally, I publish my ratings right after the match, and only check the post-match reaction and figures afterwards. The thing about strikers is that their numbers rarely do them justice. It’s not easy to receive the ball and produce something when you’re at full speed with a defender on your heels, or when you’re outnumbered against several centre-backs.
Noslin can definitely cause havoc as a striker when playing against a high line, but he’s not the sort of centre-forward who thrives against packed defences. So I think he deserves credit for scoring in a match that didn’t really suit his characteristics.
I found it a fair score. Also Noslin isn’t a natural striker, more out of necessity placed there. I’d argue he would likely also be better in a two striker system. Which would give him the opportunity to move in-between spaces .
Even Pinamonti up-front with Noslin and Zaccagni being more central placed. With them having the freedom to move from the centre to the wings. Would give the striker more support and create more players further up the field in different positions. Would make it tactically less predictable. But 3rd spot so things are going way better than any (sane) person should have expected.
In matches where Lazio needs to make the play, I’m not convinced he’s the player to play. But Lazio is over performing so, all good. And Pinamonti hasn’t shown thus far to be better. But not much minutes on the pitch.
Monza next.