December 18, 2016: Lazio Fiorentina 3-1

Simon Basten
2 hours ago
7 min read

Could have been easier

Lazio managed to hold off the Fiorentina comeback and take the three points

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had not done well. They lost the Champions League preliminary round against Bayer Leverkusen and never quite got to grips with the disappointment. Manager Stefano Pioli, who had done so well in 2014-15, showed signs of confusion and was unable to stimulate the players. He was sacked with seven games to go and replaced by Simone Inzaghi, former star of the 2000 scudetto team and manager of the primavera. He did not do too badly in those seven games, but Lazio did not qualify for any European Cup.

President Claudio Lotito and sporting director Igli Tare then had the idea to sign Marcelo Bielsa as new manager. El Loco signed the contract and two days later resigned, citing differences with Tare and Lotito over the summer transfers as the reason. Apparently, rumour has it that once the news of him coaching Lazio started to spread, he got some calls from friends in Rome who were convincing enough to make him change his mind.

The Biancocelesti were without a coach and needed one quickly, so Simone Inzaghi, who was about to sign for Salernitana, was chosen.

The good news was that a new Lazio star was born: Ciro Immobile, who arrived from Sevilla in the summer, was scoring regularly and had become a fundamental asset. Also debuting in the first team was goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha who initially substituted an injured Federico Marchetti. Keita Balde was also having a very good season and scoring.

Other new entries included defenders Bastos (Rostov), Jordan Lukaku (Oostende), Wallace (Braga) and midfielder Luís Alberto (Liverpool). Leaving Lazio were Etrit Berisha (Atalanta - on loan), defenders Edson Braafheid (end of contract), Santiago Gentiletti (Genoa), Abdoulay Konko (end of contract), Mauricio (Spartak Moscow - on loan), midfielders Antonio Candreva (Inter), Ogenyi "Eddy" Onazi (Trabzonspor), Stefano Mauri (end of contract) and striker Miroslav Klose (retired).

Lazio were doing well. They were currently fourth together with Napoli and just one point off third place held by Milan.

The match: Sunday, December 18, 2016, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

A very strong rhythm for this game right from the start. In the 9th minute Danilo Cataldi took a corner, Bastos jumped higher than anyone and headed towards the goal, Ciprian Tatarusanu parried. In the 22nd minute Cataldi sent the ball in the box, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic headed towards the centre, it was picked up by Ciro Immobile who shot too high. Sixty seconds later Lazio scored. Felipe Anderson on the right wing to Milinkovic-Savic who passed to Keita Balde. The Senegalese controlled the ball and with a clinical shot made it 1-0.

Fiorentina had a chance in the 41st minute with Federico Bernardeschi but his header from a favourable position was too weak and central. In the 3rd minute of injury time Milinkovic-Savic went off on the left and in front of the keeper was fouled. Penalty which Lucas Biglia thundered into the net.

In the 48th minute the Viola had a chance to reduce the deficit. Sebastian Cristoforo, who had just come in taking the place of Nenad Tomovic, was fouled by Biglia just inside the box. Josip Ilicic took the spot kick but Superman Federico Marchetti dived and saved. This did not stop the Viola who increased the pressure on the Biancocelesti who started to falter. In the 65th minute Cristian Tello went off on the left and in the box tried to beat Marchetti, Biglia saved on the line, but in came Mauro Zarate who tapped the ball in.

Riccardo Kishna and Wallace come in for Keita and Felipe Anderson to allow a more defensive approach. In the 71st minute Bernardeschi tried a shot from out the box but central, Marchetti parried into corner. In the 90th minute, Bastos, in defence, to Immobile who left the party on the counter attack, went into the Fiorentina half and close to the box passed to Stefan Radu. Big whack, 3-1 for Lazio and game over.

Who played for Lazio

Marchetti, Bastos, de Vrij, Radu, Felipe Anderson (77’ Wallace), Milinkovic-Savic, Biglia, Cataldi (84’ Murgia), Lulic, Immobile, Keita (68’ Kishna)

Substitutes: Strakosha, Vargic, Basta, Hoedt, Lukaku, Patric, Luis Alberto, Rossi

Manager: Inzaghi

Who played for Fiorentina

Tatarusanu, Tomovic (46' Cristoforo), De Maio, Astori, Maxi Olivera, Tello (81' Chiesa), Vecino, Sanchez, Bernardeschi, Ilicic (59' Zarate), Kalinic

Substitutes: Lezzerini, Diks, Milic, Maistro, Perez, Babacar, Dragowski

Manager: P. Sousa

Referee: Irrati

Goals: 23’ Keita, 45+3’ Biglia (pen), 65’ Zarate, 90’ Radu

What happened next

Back into Europe was the objective for the 2016-2017 season and back into Europe it would be, thanks to a good fifth place. It could have been fourth place but the team threw in the towel once European football was secured. After beating Sampdoria 7-3, they lost the last three games.

In Coppa Italia they did very well reaching the final. They beat Genoa, Inter away, Roma winning 2-0 at home and losing 3-2 away. But in the final they lost to Juventus 2-0.

Immobile was the leading scorer for Serie A with 23 goals, his second win, first with Lazio.

This was the last season for Biglia and Keita with Lazio. In the following years neither would repeat the standards reached with Lazio.

Let’s talk about Keita Balde

When Lazio signed Keita Balde Diao and Mamadou Tounkara on a free transfer there was a lot of excitement. They both came from the Barcelona youth team and when they played their first game for the Primavera team everybody was certain they would become future stars. Tounkara virtually disappeared, Keita did not but has never managed to fulfil all of his enormous potential.

Keita was born in Arbucies, near Girona in Spain, on March 8 1995 to Senegalese parents. He started playing for the youth teams of Barcelona in 2004 and was highly considered. But one day in Qatar where the team was playing a youth competition he was punished by the club for having played a trick on a teammate. As a consequence he was sent to Cornellà where in a season he scored 47 goals. When Barcelona asked him to come back he refused and signed for Lazio.

He was a baby phenomenon. He was very fast, not very tall but could shoot with both feet, a proper winger. Lazio first waited for his Spanish passport to be ready, but since that was taking forever in the end signed him as a non- EU player so he could start playing for the Primavera.

With Lazio he won the Primavera Scudetto in 2013 together with Tounkara, Danilo Cataldi and Thomas Strakosha. For the 2013-14 season he was an A Team player, though sometimes loaned to the primavera. He debuted in Serie A (Lazio Chievo 3-0 on September 15) and Internationally (Lazio Legia Warsaw 1-0 on September 18). He scored his first professional goal at Parma on November 10.

He made a lot of appearances but did not score much. That was because he was mainly played in the second half. Stefano Pioli often used him when Lazio had difficulty in scoring. He would come on in the second half and open up defences, allowing his teammates to score. This tendency of starting him on the bench would continue even under Simone Inzaghi but at one point in the 2016-17 season, in order to put Keita closer to the goal, Inzaghi changed Lazio’s formation to a 3-5-2. Keita was nearer Immobile and they both thrived. Keita scored 16 goals that season and showed just how good he could be.

But there was a problem. His agent, Roberto Calenda, did everything he possibly could to alienate the player from the club. His continuous intrusions and complaints did not make negotiations for Keita’s contract renewal easy. Keita considered himself a top player, on a par with his more famous colleagues, and according to his agent, at Lazio he was not getting the consideration he deserved. The player wanted lots of money and Lazio were not really prepared to satisfy him.

In the summer of 2017 Juventus were interested in signing him but the offer was too low. Milan also made an offer but Keita had already given his word to Juve so he refused. Monaco then sold Kylian Mbappé and chose Keita to substitute him.

But Keita was not Mbappé and Monaco soon realised that they had a decent player but not a top player. Monaco came second, but Keita was a bit of a disappointment, especially if compared to the Frenchman. In August 2018, he was loaned to Inter with a purchase option. He did not play as much as he wanted and often came in from the bench. That devastating player he was at Lazio was no more. He did contribute to Inter reaching the Champions League slots but at the end of the season he returned to Monaco after 29 appearances and five goals.

After another year in Ligue 1 he was loaned to Sampdoria for a season but he did not impress much and at the end he returned to Monaco.

In 2021 the French side sold him to Cagliari but it was a dismal year for the club and they ended up relegated to Serie B. Keita, thanks to a special clause in his contract, became a free agent and in August 2022 signed for Spartak Moscow. He stayed until August 2023, not playing all that much, when he was loaned to Espaynol in the Spanish second tier. His contract expired with Spartak and in August 2024 he signed with Sivasspor but left in January. In February he joined Monza in Serie A but could do little to avoid them being relegated. But he has stayed on.

Keita could have played for either Spain or Senegal and in the end, he decided to play for the latter. He has played in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017, 2019 and 2021 and also played one game in the 2018 World Cup. He has appeared 40 times for Senegal and scored 6 goals.

Keita played 137 games for Lazio (110 in Serie A, 12 in Coppa Italia, 2 in Champions League and 13 in Europa League) and scored 31 goals (26 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia, one in Champions League and one in Europa League).

He was a very exciting player who could change the course of a match in a second. Powerful, fast, good dribbler, it was a pity that he did not fulfil all the promise.

Lazio Career

Season	Total appearances (goals)	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Champions League	Europa League
2013-14	35 (6)	25 (5)	2	-	8 (1)
2014-15	29 (4)	23 (1)	6 (3)	-	-
2015-16	39 (5)	31 (4)	1	2 (1)	5
2016-17	34 (16)	31 (16)	3	-	-
Total	137 (31)	110 (26)	12 (3)	2 (1)	13 (2)