December 29, 2018: Lazio -Torino 1-1
- Lazio Stories
- Dec 29, 2025
- 9 min read
Fair draw but shocking referee
Lazio and Torino share the spoils in hard fought draw but Lazio not pleased with referee
The season so far
Lazio had finished 5th the previous season under Simone Inzaghi. The highlights were wins against Milan 4-1, Sampdoria 4-0, Sassuolo 6-1, Benevento 6-2 at home and Juventus 2-1, Benevento 5-1, SPAL 5-2 and Fiorentina 4-3 away. They fought for a Champions League slot until the last game but were ultimately beaten 2-3 and overtaken by Inter. A disappointing end. The top scorer was Ciro Immobile with 41 goals (29 in A).
Lazio had however won a trophy, defeating Juventus 3-2 to lift the Italian Supercoppa. A fantastic win with a 93rd minute winner, after Juventus had come back from 0-2 late on.
In the UEFA Cup they had reached the quarterfinals but lost to Salzburg 5-6 (with 3 goals conceded in 4 minutes in the return leg). In Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti lost on penalties in the semi-final to Milan (after two 0-0 draws).
This season Inzaghi was still head coach. The main new signings were: keeper Silvio Proto (Olympiakos), defenders Francesco Acerbi (Sassuolo), Riza Durmisi (Betis Sevilla), midfielders Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Valon Berisha (Salzburg), Danilo Cataldi (Benevento - back from loan) plus forward Joaquín Correa (Sevilla).
Leaving Rome were: keeper Federico Marchetti (Genoa), defender Stefan de Vrij (Inter), midfielder Davide Di Gennaro (Salernitana - on loan), Felipe Anderson (West Ham United) plus forwards Filip Djordjevic (Chievo) and Nani (Valencia - end of loan and then Sporting Lisbon).
In Serie A Lazio were currently 4th on 31 points. The Biancocelesti had won 9 (including the last two), drawn 4 and lost 5 (including derby 1-3).
In the Europa League they were through to the round of 32. The Biancocelesti had won 3 (Apollon Limassol 2-1 at home, Olympique Marseille 3-1 away and 2-1 at home) and lost 3 (Eintracht Frankfurt 1-4 away and 1-2 at home and Apollon Limassol 0-2 away). They qualified as second and would now have to play serial winners Sevilla home and away in February.
Their Coppa Italia campaign would start on January 12 at home against Novara.
Torino had finished 9th the previous season. The Granata had started with Sinisa Mihajlovic (1-19) and finished with Walter Mazzarri (20-38). Toro had won 3-1 in Rome against Lazio but lost 0-1 in Turin. The top scorer was Iago Falque with 14 goals (12 in A). Apart from Mihajlovic the squad included former Lazio, Lorenzo De Silvestri (1999-2009).
This season the manager was still Mazzarri. The main new signings were: defenders Ola Aina (Chelsea on loan via Hull City), Gleison Bremer (Atlético Mineiro), Koffi Djidji (Nantes), Armando Izzo (Genoa), midfielders Saša Lukic (Levante - back from loan), Soualiho Meite (Monaco via Bordeaux), Roberto Soriano (Villarreal - on loan) plus forwards Vittorio Parigini (Benevento) and Simone Zaza (Valencia).
Leaving Torino were: goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic -Savic (SPAL - on loan), defenders Antonio Barreca (Monaco), Kevin Bonifazi (SPAL - on loan), Nicolás Burdisso (retiring), Cristian Molinaro (Fiorentina), midfielders Afriyie Acquah (Empoli), Joel Obi (Chievo Verona), Mirko Valdifiori (SPAL) plus forwards Adem Ljajić (Beşiktaş) and M'Baye Niang (Rennes).
So far in Serie A the Granata were in 8th place, on 26 points. They had won 6 (including the most recent game 3-0 at home to Empoli), drawn 8 (including Inter 2-2 and Milan 0-0 both away) and lost 4 (including the derby with Juventus 0-1 at home).
In the Coppa Italia they had started in August defeating Cosenza 4-0 at home and then Süd-Tirol 2-0 at home in December. Next up would be Fiorentina in the last 16 at home in January.
Not an easy game for Lazio against a solid upper-middle table side. Torino were still unbeaten in all eleven away games.
The match: Saturday, December 29, 2018, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A cloudy afternoon with occasional rays of pale sun attracted about 35,000 spectators to the Olimpico.
Neither Lazio nor Torino had any real absences.
The first chance fell to Lorenzo De Silvestri but his header from a Cristian Ansaldi cross came back off the crossbar.
Lazio were then well on top in the first half hour and forced Torino to play in their own half. The Biancocelesti's main chance fell to Ciro Immobile but he was denied by an excellent Salvatore Sirigu save.
Immobile had another golden opportunity in the 30th minute but in front of Sirigu his attempt to lob the keeper went just wide.
Lazio were playing their third game in seven days and Torino gradually came out of their shell and the game became more balanced.
In added time the visitors took the lead. In the first minute of injury time the referee awarded the Granata a penalty for a naive but ever so light nudge by Adam Marusic on Andrea Belotti. The referee Irrati had a chat with Orsato in the VAR room and after a couple of minutes confirmed his decision. Belotti took the spot kick and Thomas Strakosha guessed his intentions and even touched the ball but it found the net anyway, 0-1 at halftime.
Soon after the re-start, in the 51st minute, Toro made their first change bringing on Emiliano Moretti for Armando Izzo who had already been booked and was lucky to avoid a second.
In the 57th minute Inzaghi took off defender Stefan Radu and put on midfielder Lucas Leiva.
In the 60th minute the Granata almost doubled their lead when former Lazio and childhood Lazio fan De Silvestri had time and space to beat Strakosha after a lucky deflection but instead of controlling the ball he hit it first time and hammered the seemingly simple chance over the bar.
Two minutes later the Biancocelesti equalised. Leiva gave the ball to Sergej Milinkovic-Savic who sent a blistering shot into the top hand corner, a fantastic strike and 1-1.
In the 64th minute Simone Inzaghi strangely decided to replace forward Joaquín Correa with Brazilian defender Wallace.
Following the equaliser Lazio began to get the upper hand again. The visitors had to thank defender Koffi Djidji if they did not fall behind in this period. The French-Ivorian defender single handedly denied Milinkovic-Savic, Luis Alberto and Immobile from scoring at least four times either with last ditch tackles or blocking shots with various parts of his body.
In the 71st minute Toro had replaced Daniele Baselli with another midfielder Saša Lukić.
In the 74th minute Lazio had a penalty appeal for a push by Soualiho Meite on Francesco Acerbi as he was about to shoot. The contact appeared much heavier and clearer than the one leading to Torino's penalty but Irrati was uninterested. The Lazio players, directors and fans were up in arms.
In the 75th minute the Piedmontese had a big chance of their own to go in front again. Wallace clumsily lost possession and Toro burst off four against two on the counterattack. Meite however was selfish and rather than using the numbers to out manoeuvre the flimsy Lazio backline he decided to go solo and wasted the chance. Now it was Mazzarri who was furious on the touchline.
De Silvestri then hit the woodwork again this time the post from a header following a corner.
In the 83rd minute the Granata lost Moretti through injury and on came Lyanco. A minute later Felipe Caicedo replaced Luis Alberto for Lazio.
Two minutes later Lazio were reduced to ten men. In the 86th minute Marusic got his marching orders for a second yellow for a foul only Irrati had seen and just when Lazio were surging forward on the break.
From the 90th minute Torino too were forced to play in ten men. Tomás Rincón hacked Senad Lulic down and was booked but some pushing and shoving ensued and Meite must have exaggerated and was sent off.
The game ended 1-1. Both sides could have won so a point each was probably a fair outcome. Lazio however were seething over some of the refereeing decisions especially on the penalty issues. Lazio had already been heavily penalised by the referees the previous season so it was a sort of reopening of the wounds.
Lazio were still 4th on 32 points but now only one ahead of Milan and Roma who had both won.
Torino were now 9th on 27 points, overtaken by Atalanta (6-2 at Sassuolo!)
Who played for Lazio
Strakosha, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Radu (57' Leiva), Marusic, Parolo, Milinkovic-Savic, Lulic, Correa (64' Wallace), Luis Alberto (84' Caicedo), Immobile
Manager: S.Inzaghi
Who played for Torino
Sirigu, Izzo (51' Moretti, 83' Lyanco), N'koulou, Djidji, De Silvestri, Baselli (71' Lukic), Rincon, Meite, Ansaldi, Iago Falque, Belotti
Substitutes: Ichazo, Rosati, Bremer, Aina, Berenguer, Parigini, Soriano, Edera, Zaza
Manager: Mazzarri
Referee: Irrati
Goals: 45+3 Belotti (pen), 62' Milinkovic-Savic
Red Cards: 86' Marusic, 90' Meite
What happened next
In Serie A Lazio finished 8th. In the remaining games the Biancocelesti won 8, drew 3 and lost 8. The highlight was crushing Roma 3-0 but it was a mediocre league campaign. The top scorer was Ciro Immobile with 19 goals (15 in A).
In the Europa League they then lost 0-3 on aggregate to Sevilla.
Things went better in the Coppa Italia. Lazio defeated Novara 4-1 at home, Inter away on penalties and Milan 1-0 on aggregate to reach the final.
On May 15 on an uncharacteristically cold and wet Roman evening the Biancocelesti beat Atalanta 2-0 with two late goals by Milinkovic-Savic and Correa. The season ended triumphantly with Lazio's 7th domestic cup.
Torino finished 7th and, due to Milan's exclusion over fair play issues, even qualified for the Europa League. In the next 19 games they won 10 (including Inter 1-0, Milan 2-0 and Lazio 3-1, all at home), drew 6 (including the derby 1-1) and lost 3. The top scorer was Andrea Belotti with 17 goals (15 in A).
In Coppa Italia they then lost 0-2 at home to Fiorentina.
The Scudetto was won by Juventus for the 35th time. Serie B was calling for Empoli, Frosinone and Chievo (the Veronesi have never been back and are now in Serie D). As mentioned Lazio won the Coppa Italia while the Europa League was lifted by Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea (Arsenal 4-1 including a goal by Pedro).
Let’s talk about Lorenzo De Silvestri
Lorenzo De Silvestri was born in Rome on May 23, 1988. He grew up with Lazio, played in every youth team and worked himself up to the top tier. During the course of his training he was always very highly considered by coaches who predicted he could be one of the most important Lazio players coming from the youth sector since Alessandro Nesta and Marco Di Vaio.
De Silvestri is a very physical right back, who can play both in a more defensive role as well as a more attacking position. He debuted for Lazio in the Intertoto Cup in the last minutes of Tampere United Lazio in 2005. His first appearance in Serie A came on April 22 2007 in the game against Fiorentina.
De Silvestri was a good friend of Gabriele Sandri. Sandri on November 11, 2007 was travelling on an away trip to Inter but was shot to death by a policeman. The lethal bullet was fired from a distance of about 50 metres while Sandri was asleep in the back of a car in a motorway cafe car park in Tuscany (Gabriele was a well-known DJ in the capital). It later transpired the police thought there was a robbery going on. The Inter-Lazio game was called off and there were fan revolts all over Italy in protest about the tragedy. The policeman, Luigi Spaccarotella, would later be condemned for wilful homicide.
Unfortunately De Silvestri did not turn out to be the fantastic footballer everybody thought he would be. He was “just” average. As a consequence he did not have the playing time he thought he would get. At the end of a successful season for Lazio with the Coppa Italia win of 2009, De Silvestri argued with President Claudio Lotito over the renewal of his contract. He refused to play and the club was forced to sell him.
He played 69 games for Lazio (47 in Serie A, 14 in Coppa Italia with two goals, 6 in Champions League and 2 in the Intertoto Cup).
In August 2009 he signed for Fiorentina. Despite his ambition, he still did not play that much more than with Lazio. He stayed for three years with 86 appearances and two goals. In his second year the Fiorentina manager was Sinisa Mihajlovic.
In July 2012 he was loaned to Sampdoria with option to buy. He became a regular player once his former Lazio manager Delio Rossi took over. In his second year Rossi was replaced by Mihajlovic. He stayed four years in Genoa, the last season marred by injury, with 114 appearances and 9 goals.
In August 2016 he signed for Torino, following manager Mihajlovic. He stayed for four years, in the first he did not play much but starting from his second year he, finally, became a first choice player. He played 128 games with 13 goals for the Granata.
Sinisa moved to coach Bologna in 2019 and De Silvestri joined him for the fourth time in 2020. He has 115 appearances so far (2024-25 season) with nine goals. In 2025 he won the Coppa Italia.
De Silvestri has played for every possible Nazionale: under 16s under 17s, under 18s, under 19s, under 20s, under 21s, as well as the Olympic team in the 2009 Beijing games. When he joined Fiorentina he was even called up for the national team and won 6 full Italy caps.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Intertoto Cup |
2005-06 | 3 | - | 1 | - | 2 |
2006-07 | 4 (1) | 2 | 2 (1) | - | - |
2007-08 | 34 (1) | 24 | 4 (1) | 6 | - |
2008-09 | 28 | 21 | 7 | - | - |
Total | 69 (2) | 47 | 14 (2) | 6 | 2 |
Sources
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