Sarri beats Inzaghi … again
A wonderful display by Lazio with three exceptional goals from Felipe Anderson, Luis Alberto and Pedro that sink Inter. It is not the first time Inzaghi loses to Sarri …
Also on this day: August 26, 2012, Atalanta Lazio 0-1. First game and first win of the season thanks to Hernanes. Player of the day: Hernanes
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.
In the summer transfer window a lot of comings and goings. New arrivals were Alessio Romagnoli (free transfer), Mario Gila (Real Madrid) and Nicolò Casale (Verona) in defence, Marcos Antonio (Shakhtar Donetsk) and Matis Vecino (free transfer) at midfield, forward Matteo Cancellieri (Verona) plus goalkeepers Ivan Provedel (Spezia) and Luis Maximiano (Granada). Lazio said goodbye to Pepe Reina (end of contract), Francesco Acerbi (Inter, loan), Luiz Felipe (end of contract), Jovane Cabral (end of loan), Lucas Leiva (end of contract), Jean Daniel Akpa Akbro (Empoli, loan) and Thomas Strakosha (end of contract).
In the first game of the season Lazio had won against Bologna coming from behind and in the second had drawn 0-0 away with Torino.
The match: Friday, August 26, 2022, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Maurizio Sarri confirmed the team that had played against Torino the previous Saturday despite Manuel Lazzari having had a fever on the eve of the game. Simone Inzaghi decided to put Denzel Dumfires and Federico Dimarco on the wings and surprisingly put Roberto Gagliardini in place of Hakan Calhanoglu.
There were high expectations for this match and it certainly did not disappoint. Inter took charge of the proceedings in the early stages but Lazio were very tight and there was little space. The Milanese tried to move the ball from one side of the pitch to the other but they were not particularly dangerous.
Lazio on the other hand, after the first quarter of an hour, started to show more courage. In the 16th minute Adam Marusic crossed the ball low in the penalty box and Ciro Immobile’s shot went only slightly wide.
The match was very intense but Lazio showed that they were more capable than Inter in actually playing the ball. As a consequence, there were several professional fouls by the Nerazzurri but the referee had unfortunately forgotten his yellow card in the changing rooms so he could not book any of the Inter players.
Lazio had another chance in the 34th minute when Mattia Zaccagni on the left-hand side of the penalty box took a shot that looked promising but was deflected into corner by Milan Skriniar. Three minutes later Immobile had another chance. Felipe Anderson slipped in front of Dimarco and passed the ball to the Lazio captain but his immediate shot was too central and Samir Handanovic cleared.
A Lazio goal looked imminent and it came in the 40th minute. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic received the ball just past the halfway line, stopped, looked around, and sent a wonderful pass over the Inter defence. Alessandro Bastoni and Dimarco were distracted and Felipe Anderson crept behind them heading the ball in for his first goal of the season.
Two minutes later there was a possible penalty for Inter but Romelu Lukaku was offside so no need for a check.
Immobile had an early chance to make it 2-0 after only two minutes of the second half. Lazzari finally started galloping down the right wing and passed to Ciro in the penalty box. His immediate shot on the front post was saved into corner by Handanovic.
Lazio were in control and Inter looked like they did not have a clue. But there was a free kick for the Nerazzurri on the left in the 51st minute. Dimarco crossed, Danilo Cataldi headed the ball high in the box, Dumfries got there first, and Lautaro Martinez all by himself in front of Ivan Provedel equalised.
Lazio had a blackout. Panic set in and Inter almost made it two. Dimarco crossed from the left and Dumfries on the far right had a great opportunity but his header was brilliantly saved by Provedel.
Sarri decided it was time for a change and in the 57th minute in came Pedro and Luis Alberto in place of Zaccagni and Matias Vecino. This was a decisive move for Lazio and the players woke up.
Inzaghi helped Lazio 12 minutes later with his three changes. Demonstrating his chronic inability to read matches, out went Dumfries, Dimarco and Lukaku and in came Matteo Darmian, Robin Gosens and Edin Dzeko. With these changes the former Lazio manager de facto handed over the match to his former employers. In the 72th minute Elseid Hysaj substituted Lazzari. A heroic performance by the Lazio right back who was certainly not 100% after having a fever.
In the 75th minute Lazio made it 2-1. Milinkovic-Savic from the right side of the penalty box sent the ball in low to Pedro on the other side. The former Barcelona player saw Luis Alberto outside the box and passed the ball to the Spaniard. What we witnessed was one of the finest goals in the history of Lazio. Luis Alberto’s powerful volley went into the far-right top hand corner of the goal with Handanovic completely still.
Inzaghi sent in Calhanoglu and Joaquin Correa but it was too late for the former and the latter confirmed his inadequacy. Inter did try but Lazio were now too strong both defensively and mentally. With six minutes to go Sarri substituted Cataldi and Felipe Anderson with Marcos Antonio and Matteo Cancellieri.
One minute later it was 3-1 for Lazio. Luis Alberto passed the ball in the box to Immobile who was fouled by Darmian but still able to pass it to Pedro who moved past Stefan De Vrij and scored.
It was all over for Inter. Lautaro was the last to give up and he had a couple of shots saved by Provedel. Cancellieri and Immobile had a chance each but the score remained 3-1.
A wonderful performance by Lazio on a very, very humid night at the Olimpico.
Who played for Lazio
Provedel, Lazzari (71' Hysaj), Patric, Romagnoli, Marusic, Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi (83' Marcos Antonio), Vecino (57' Luis Alberto), Felipe Anderson (83' Cancellieri), Immobile, Zaccagni (57' Pedro).
Substitutes: Maximiano, Adamonis, Casale, Gila, Radu, Basic, Romero.
Manager: Sarri
Who played for Inter
Handanovic, Skriniar, de Vrij, Bastoni, Dumfries (68' Darmian), Barella (77' Correa), Brozovic, Gagliardini (77' Calhanoglu), Dimarco (68' Gosens), Lukaku (68' Dzeko), Lautaro
Substitutes: Onana, Cordaz, D’Ambrosio, Bellanova, Agoumè, Asllani
Manager: Inzaghi
Referee: Fabbri
Goals: 40' Felipe Anderson, 51' Lautaro, 75' Luis Alberto, 86' Pedro
What happened next
As we all know, an excellent season for Lazio who arrived second behind an unstoppable Napoli. To note is that Lazio have only come second three times before, 1936-37, 1994-95 and 1998-99, so this year’s result is a positive rarity in Lazio's history. Two derbies won, 21 clean sheets, victories against Napoli, Milan, Inter and Juventus, the only negative aspect was a poor European campaign where the Biancocelesti paid the price for their usual blackouts and were unlucky with the refs. They were relegated to the Conference League but eliminated by AZ Alkmaar in the Round of 16.
Felipe Anderson appeared in all the season’s games and Immobile, despite being hampered by injuries all year, was top scorer with 14 goals in all competitions.
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 Pedro
In his career, Pedro Rodriguez Ledesma, better known as Pedro, has won
World Cup (Spain)
European Cup (Spain)
3 Champions Leagues (Barcelona)
2 FIFA Club World Cups (Barcelona)
Premier League (Chelsea)
5 Spanish Leagues (Barcelona)
Europa League (Chelsea)
3 UEFA Super Cups (Barcelona)
FA Cup (Chelsea)
3 Copa del Rey's (Barcelona)
4 Supercopas de España (Barcelona)
There is not much else he can win, at least at international level!!!
He was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on July 28, 1987. He started his career with Club Deportivo San Isidro and at 17 joined the youth teams of Barcelona. He worked himself up the ladder to the A team after having played two years in C team and three in the B team. He debuted in the Liga on January 12 2008 in the game won by Barça 4-0 against Real Murcia. In 8 years he played 321 games and scored 99 goals in all competitions winning 20 titles. He played alongside some of the best players in the World, Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta to name a few, and under Frank Rijkard, Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova, Gerardo Martino and Luis Enrique.
In late August 2015 he joined Chelsea. A few thought that he would not shine as much as he had done with Barcelona but he did, winning three trophies in five years in 206 appearances with 43 goals. His managers were Guus Hiddink, Antonio Conte, Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard.
In August 2020 he signed for Roma as a free agent. He had an important impact on arrival with three goals and three assists, a leader both on the pitch and off. And then he got injured, had problems finding his form when he returned and had trouble with manager Paulo Fonseca. He was the shadow of the player everybody remembered and the fans were not happy.
On May 4 2021 Roma announced José Mourinho as new manager. The Portuguese had no interest in the Spaniard for reasons Pedro still does not know. “He decided to let me go. I asked him why, I wanted him to tell me to my face, but he did not want to say”, he said in a recent interview.
At this point Roma wanted to get rid of him even for free. Sarri was very interested and Pedro signed for Lazio. A very rare direct deal between the clubs. With the Biancocelesti Pedro rediscovered his enthusiasm and even scored in the derby, one of the three players who have played and scored for both teams in the eternal battle between Biancocelesti and Giallorossi (Aleksandar Kolarov and Arne Selmosson the other two). He became a fan favourite and the Curva Nord started chanting his name using a Raffaella Carrà (famous Italian TV personality) song. In three years he has appeared in 132 games and scored 20 goals.
He has 65 caps with Spain (17 goals) and participated in the World Cups of 2010 (which Spain won) and 2014 as well as Euro 2012 (won) and 2016.
Pedro is a great player, fast, able to score in any way, with the exception of a header seeing he is not particularly tall (1.67 metres). He has scored some amazing goals in his career and it is a pleasure to watch him play.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Conference League | Super Coppa |
2021-22 | 41 (10) | 32 (9) | 1 | - | 8 (1) | | |
2022-23 | 46 (7) | 36 (4) | 2 | - | 5 (2) | 3 (1) | |
2023-24 | 45 (3) | 33 (1) | 3 | 8 (2) | - | - | 1 |
2024-25 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
Total | 133 (20) | 101 (14) | 6 | 8 (2) | 13 (3) | 3 (1) | 1 |
Sources
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