Double Candreva
Candreva brace against Inter may give Lazio new lease of life
Also on this day: December 20, 1953, Lazio Genoa 3-0. Despite a waterlogged pitch, once Lazio figured out how to play in these conditions there was nothing Genoa could do. Lazio Legend of the day: Lucidio Sentimenti IV
The season so far
The previous season had seen Lazio arrive third and qualify for the Champions League playoff. It was a great year and Lazio played really well so there was hope that it could be repeated.
The summer transfer window however was not what the fans had hoped for. A few of the older players were let go, so Lazio said goodbye to Cristian Ledesma, Lorik Cana, Diego Novaretti and Michael Ciani plus the younger ones who had disappointed such as Pedro Cavanda and Brayan Perea. In came Wesley Hoedt, Riccardo Kishna, Patric and a young Serb, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
The first game of the season was in August, the Super Coppa against Juventus, played in Shanghai. No contest and Lazio were beaten 2-0 on an appalling pitch. The Biancocelesti’s form was pretty terrible but the focus was on the Champions League playoff against Bayer Leverkusen.
In front of a packed Olimpico, Lazio played really well in the first leg and won 1-0. They could/should have scored more but some players were still a bit behind physically. The problem was that Miroslav Klose got injured in the first half and at that time Lazio did not have a centre forward who could replace him. The return match against Bayer Leverkusen was a defensive nightmare. Manager Stefano Pioli decided to “experiment” a 3-4-3 formation instead of the classic 4-4-2. As a consequence, Lazio lost 3-0 so they were relegated to Europa League.
Things went relatively well there and Lazio went through to the second round after winning their group against Dnipro, Saint Etienne and Rosenborg. The Biancocelesti were however eliminated in Coppa Italia. After beating Udinese, they lost to Juventus again in the quarter-finals.
One could see immediately that Lazio were having problems and they were not playing as well as 2014-15. Narrow wins and big defeats (4-0 against Chievo, 5-0 against Napoli), players who were not performing as well as the previous year (Felipe Anderson for example) or other fundamental pieces that Lazio lost through injury (Stefan de Vrij) all led to a disappointing season.
A season which seemed basically over when Lazio collected only two points in seven games between the end of October and mid-December. The Biancocelesti were 12th.
The match: Sunday, December 20, 2015, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
No fussing between the teams as the game got off to a quick start. In the 4th minute a long pass from Stevan Jovetic to Ivan Perisic who stopped the ball just as he was entering the box but it went a bit too long and Etrit Berisha was able to block any danger. A minute later Lazio scored. Corner for the Biancocelesti, Lucas Biglia looked as if he was going to cross the ball but instead, he passed to Antonio Candreva outside the box centre-right, immediate shot on to the front post and Lazio were one up.
Inter in shock, they probably thought it would be an easy match seeing the psychological conditions of the Biancocelesti. Throughout the entire first half the Neoroazzurri were unable to muster anything even close to a goal chance. Instead, it was Lazio who threw away the possibility of doubling the score. In the 43rd minute Felipe Melo “passed” to Felipe Anderson who beat a first Inter player, then a second and then a third and found himself alone in front of Samir Handanovic with the ball slightly too long. In came Candreva who shot over the crossbar.
The match did not change in the second half with Inter continuing to press Lazio but completely ineffectively. Until the 61st minute when Jeison Murillio stole a ball off a Lazio attack and passed up front to Mauro Icardi who beat Mauricio and Wesley Hoedt for speed and with a clinical shot gave the Neroazzurri their undeserved equaliser.
The teams did try to score another but they were too poor to create anything particularly dangerous. In the 87th minute Candreva tried a cross near the corner kick on the right, it was walled by Gary Medel, Abdoulay Konko got to the ball and tried again but it was deflected by Murillio and went up in the air inside the box. As Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was about to control it, Felipe Melo brought him down. Penalty for Lazio. Candreva from the spot kick aimed low and left, Handanovic parried, ball back to Candreva who scored Lazio’s winner.
Felipe Melo, conscious of having given the game away, then tried to decapitate Biglia with his leg way too high and was sent off. As was Milinkovic-Savic, getting a second booking for wasting time (probably a crowd appeaser from the ref).
Ultimately a great win for Lazio taking advantage of a pretty dismal Inter.
Who played for Inter
Handanovic, Montoya, Miranda, Murillo, Telles (89' Palacio), Biabiany (57' Brozovic), Felipe Melo, Medel, Perisic, Icardi, Jovetic (57' Ljajic).
Substitutes: Carrizo, Jesus, Dodò, Kondogbia, Guarin, Santon, D'Ambrosio, Nagatomo, Manaj.
Manager: Mancini
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Konko, Hoedt, Mauricio, Radu, Biglia, Candreva (95’ Patric), Milinkovic-Savic, Parolo, Felipe Anderson (82’ Keita), Matri (73’ Djordjevic)
Manager: Pioli
Referee: Mazzoleni
Goals: 5’ Candreva, 61’ Icardi, 87’ Candreva
What happened next
Lazio played a horrible goalless game with Carpi at home in the first game of 2016 but then beat Fiorentina away and came back from two nil down to draw at Bologna. They then beat Sassuolo but the return to form was short-lived. Disappointing goalless draws away from home at Udine, Genoa and Frosinone, the usual loss against Napoli and an unusual one at home against Sassuolo really meant that a European Cup qualification was too far away.
To make matters worse was the incredible elimination from the Europa League. Lazio had played really well in Europe and after the group stage had to play against Galatasaray in February. 1-1 away and a comfortable 3-1 win at home. Next up was Sparta Prague. There was optimism after drawing the away leg 1-1. And then the debacle that nobody expected. Lazio lost 3-0 at home. A Collapse.
The inconsistency and bad form of some of the players came to a culmination with the 4-1 loss in the derby two weeks later. Lazio actually did not play too badly and were unlucky, hitting the woodwork twice when they were 2-1 down.
President Claudio Lotito decided that it was time for a change and sacked Pioli. Simone Inzaghi, former player of the 2000 scudetto, had already been helped considerably by Lazio in his career as a manager. The club really believed in his abilities and had given him various youth teams in order to gain experience. The time was ripe for the big jump and he took over.
A good start with two consecutive wins and a few tactical changes before a defeat in Turin against Juventus and one against Sampdoria where Lazio had a million chances to win.
Goodbye to Europe and goodbye to Miro Klose who made his last appearance for Lazio against Fiorentina in the last game of the season. Lazio had no intention of renewing his contract and it did not seem that he was interested in continuing.
Lazio 2015-16
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 52 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 |
Champions League | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 |
Europa League | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 18 |
Super Coppa | 1 | - | - | 1 | - |
Total | 53 | 22 | 13 | 18 | 73 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Felipe Anderson | 47 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
Candreva | 44 | 30 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 1 |
Parolo | 40 | 31 | - | 2 | 7 | - |
Keita Balde | 39 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - |
Lulic | 39 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 6 | - |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Candreva | 12 | 10 | - | 2 |
Felipe Anderson | 9 | 7 | - | 2 |
Klose | 8 | 7 | - | 1 |
Matri | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
Parolo | 6 | 3 | - | 3 |
Djordjevic | 6 | 3 | - | 3 |
Let's talk about Wesley Hoedt
Wesley Hoedt was born in Alkmaar on March 6, 1994. He first played as a centre-forward or behind the strikers but at 17, since he was tall (1.88), he was put in defence. He started his football career with AZ Alkmaar in 2005 and worked himself up the rank and file to reach his debut in Europa League in the final minutes against PAOK Thessaloniki on December 12, 2013. He played his first game in Eredivisie on April 6. At the end of his contract in the summer of 2015 he signed for Lazio.
His first year for the Biancocelesti was a positive one. Tall, with an excellent shot, he could play the ball but was a bit slow which was Ok when he had Mauricio next to him in a classic 4-4-2. De facto, Wesley was substituting for injured Stefan de Vrij so when the latter came back to play there was less available playing time. At the end of the 2017 season, he asked to be sold to play more. Southampton offered loads of money so Hoedt left to join the premier league.
His experience in England was OK the first year but with the arrival of new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl he basically stopped playing so in January 2019 he was loaned to Celta Vigo in Spain. When he returned, he was loaned again this time to Royal Antwerp for the 2019-20 season. Both clubs had the possibility to buy the player, but neither took up on this possibility.
In 2020 Lazio were looking for a central defender. Luiz Felipe had suffered a serious injury and would be out for some months, manager Simone Inzaghi needed a replacement. Due to the lack of money available, the manager opted to have Hoedt on loan for a season instead of spending money on a new signing. The Dutchman did not have a good impact and did not play very well, probably suffering the 3-5-3 which meant a lot more mobility, something Hoedt has never had. It is a mystery to this day why Inzaghi suggested the deal in the first place.
After his year in Rome, he signed for Anderlecht playing regularly in his first year (48 appearances). In January 2023 he was sold to Watford in the Championship.
Wesley Hoedt is not a bad player and in his first year with Lazio did relatively well. The change to three defenders at the back did not really suit him and he suffered, especially the year on loan. Overall, he made 87 appearances for the Biancocelesti (65 in Serie A, 7 in Coppa Italia, 7 in Champions League and 8 in Europa League) with 4 goals (two in Serie A, one in Coppa Italia and one in Europa League).
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League |
2015-16 | 35 (1) | 25 | 2 | - | 8 (1) |
2016-17 | 26 (3) | 23 (2) | 3 (1) | - | - |
2020-21 | 26 | 17 | 2 | 7 | - |
Total | 87 (4) | 65 (2) | 7 (1) | 7 | 8 (1) |
Sources