August 23, 2012: Mura 05-Lazio 0-2, Europa League Play-off
- Dag Jenkins
- 10 hours ago
- 5 min read
Hernanes and Klose in different league
Goals by the Brazilian and the German give Lazio reassuring advantage
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had finished 4th (Europa League) under Edy Reja. The main satisfactions were defeating Roma twice in the league, both 2-1, Milan 2-0 and Inter 3-1. The top scorer was Miro Klose with 15 goals (12 in A).
The main novelty for Lazio this season was the arrival of Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic,, an elegant polyglot of Bosnian origin. Apart from Petkovic, Lazio had added Italian International Antonio Candreva (Udinese, he had arrived on loan in January) and Brazilian Ederson (Olympique Marseille) in midfield, plus defensive giant Michael Ciani (Bordeaux).
Leaving were defenders Javier Garrido (Norwich City) and Guglielmo Stendardo (Atalanta) plus forward Stephen Makinwa (Carrarese).
Nogometna Društvo Mura 05 known as Mura 05 were a club from Slovenia founded in 2005. They were from the town of Murska Sobota in the north-east of the country. In 2011-12 the "Čarno-bejli" (Black and Whites) had finished 3rd in the Slovenian league the 1.SNL.
This season manager was newly appointed Oliver Bogatinov.
Today was the Europa League playoff to get into the group stage. The return game would be in a week's time in Rome.
On paper not a difficult match for Lazio today but European games were often full of surprises.
The match: Thursday, August 23, 2012, Ljudski Vrt, Maribor
The game was played in Maribor, 51 kilometres from Murska Sobota, with a 9 pm kick-off. There were about 5,000 spectators.
Lazio were missing defender Stefan Radu plus midfielders Álvaro González and Ederson.
The Slovenians initially made it difficult for the Romans. They played with ten men near their own area with only Fajic up front. Lazio had total control of possession but in the first 25 minutes never shot on target.
Lazio had some opportunities however; in the 6th minute Antonio Candreva fired an easy chance over the bar, in the 17th a Miro Klose header and in the 27th a Stefano Mauri volley both went wide.
Just after the half hour it was in fact the Slovenians who went close. Rok Buzeti surged forward and put a through ball which was cleverly dummied by a teammate and reached Mate Eterovic who hit it first time but his effort shaved the post with Federico Marchetti rooted.
The scare shook Lazio who scored a minute later. A wonderful long range left-footed Hernanes strike beat Filip Drakovic, 0-1.
The second half was more of a formality as Lazio controlled but now had the comfort of the one goal lead.
Klose was unable to take advantage of Drakovic howler but in the 59th minute the "Fisher King" struck. Abdoulay Konko crossed from the right and the German striker displayed his speciality with an impressive leap and header into the far corner, 0-2.
The substitutions then started. Hernanes was the first to take some rest and on came Senad Lulic.
The game had little more to say as Lazio administered their two-goal cushion.
Both sides however could have scored with about ten minutes to go. First Marchetti had to rush off his line to save from Fajic and then Klose freed himself for a shot with a dazzling dribbling movement but he hit it over the bar. The former Bayern Munich forward then went off in the 83rd minute and Sergio Floccari came on. Serie A would start in only three days time, away to Atalanta.
A good result for Lazio. Not a spectacular showing but at this point of the season one could be patient and wait for more exciting displays. Lazio's best players Hernanes and Klose were enough for now.
Lazio would receive the Muraši in a week's time with a solid advantage.
Who played for Mura
Drakovic, Buzeti, Marusko, Travner, Kramar (62' Sres), Janza, Bohar (86' Majer), Eterovic (78' Kouter), Horvat, Vas, Fajic
Substitutes: Cipot, Kozar, Gruskovnjak, Barbic
Manager: Bogatinov
Who played for Lazio
Marchetti, Konko, Biava, Dias, Cavanda, Onazi, Ledesma, Hernanes (60' Lulic), Mauri (71' Zarate), Klose (83' Floccari), Candreva
Manager: Petkovic
Referee: Courtney (NIR)
Goals: 31' Hernanes, 59' Klose
What happened next
In Serie A Lazio started well winning 1-0 in Bergamo. Until January the Biancocelesti were flying with wins over Roma 3-2, Milan 3-2 and Inter 1-0. They then faded and the only really good win from then on however was a 3-1 win away to Inter while the second derby ended 1-1. Lazio ended up 7th. The top scorer was Miro Klose with 16 (15 in A).
In January striker and fan favourite Tommaso Rocchi left for Inter after nine wonderful years in Rome (and 105 goals) and Brazilian Marcelino Matuzalem joined Genoa, Lionel Scaloni went to Atalanta, Luciano Zauri and Giuseppe Sculli to Pescara. Striker Louis Saha arrived as a free agent.
In Europa League Lazio then won the return leg 3-1 against Mura 05. In the group phase they qualified after 3 wins (Maribor 1-0 and 4-1, Panathinaikos 3-0) and 3 draws (Tottenham Hotspurs 0-0 both home and away, Panathinaikos 1-1 away).
In the round of 32 Lazio got the better of Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-3 on aggregate.
Lazio drew Stuttgart in the last 16 and won 5-1 on aggregate.
In the quarterfinals came Fenerbahçe. The first leg was in Istanbul and things were going reasonably well until in the second half Scottish referee Mr. William Callum suddenly started to blow everything against Lazio including a very generous penalty and a non-existent free kick which led to the Turks second goal. In many years of watching Lazio I have rarely seen such a blatantly anti-Lazio referee, it was almost as if he had received instructions during the break to make sure the Romans were beaten.
In the return match Lazio played well, went one up but then a Caner equaliser basically decided the tie.
The Coppa Italia however was a different story. Lazio had started in December beating Siena on penalties (after equalising in the 95th minute). Next had come a 3-0 win against Catania. The semifinal was against Juventus and Lazio won 3-2 on aggregate. The final was a final of finals against bitter local rivals A.S Roma.
On the 26th May, Lazio triumphed 1-0 with a Senad Lulic goal in the 71st minute (one can still see the number graffitied around town).
An average season became an epic one thanks to the derby win which will be remembered forever on both sides of the Tiber.
Mura 05 went bust in 2013 and disbanded. A new club called Nogometno Šola Mura known as NŠ Mura was then formed. Nš Mura won the Slovenian Cup in 2020 and the league title in 2021.
Let's talk about Lazio Jersey 2012-13
Image source: Football Kit Archive
The main novelty this season was the passage from Puma to Macron as technical sponsor after almost fifteen years. Lazio had no main sponsor, good news for the purists but less so for the Lazio coffers.
Lazio's home shirt was a slightly darker light blue. The collar was open and mainly white with two thin light blue stripes. There was also a small band of white at the end of the sleeves. The shorts were white too as were the socks but with horizontal light blue hoops.
The away shirt was black with a thick light blue band across the chest. The collar had a thin light blue and white line. There was also light blue on the wrists of the sleeves. The shorts were black as were the socks with thin light blue and white hoops.
The third shirt was based on the 1960s model. A white shirt with a light blue round neck. There was light blue at the bottom of the sleeves, the shorts were light blue as were the socks with white hoops.
For the Coppa Italia final against Roma, on May 26, Lazio wore a slightly adapted home shirt. The open buttonless collar and the end of the sleeves had the red, white and green of the Italian flag. A good choice for the winners.
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