UEFA Cup Round 1, First Leg
Thursday, September 19, 2002
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio AC Skoda Xanthi 4-0
With four unanswered goals Lazio look with confidence to return leg
The season so far
Lazio had already played one game in Serie A but had lost 2-3 at home to Chievo Verona. It was supposed to be the second fixture but the first had been postponed to November as the Serie A clubs had not yet reached an agreement on TV contracts.
This evening was the first UEFA Cup game of the season.
The match
The mid-week evening game against semi unknown opposition did not pull in a big crowd, about 15,000.
Lazio were without Fabio Liverani, Beppe Pancaro and Bernardo Corradi and by choice left Jaap Stam, Diego Simeone and Giuliano Giannichedda on the bench.
The defence had been disastrous in the recent league debut home defeat and Juan Pablo Sorin seemed to be the one to pay.
Lazio predictably attacked from the start and pegged the Greeks back in their own half. The Biancocelesti could have been three or four up but Simone Inzaghi missed several chances to break the deadlock.
In the 32nd minute it was Ismaila Ba who almost stole the show. A brilliant volley, reminiscent of Marco Van Basten's in the European Championships final against USSR in 1988, hit the post to Angelo Peruzzi's right.
Lazio attacked more and just before halftime finally made the breakthrough. In the 45th minute Stefano Fiore did well down the right and from the by-line crossed, Inzaghi was out of position but Christian Manfredini was there with a weak header which went in courtesy of a goalkeeper howler. Lazio 1 Xanthi 0.
Lazio had struggled to break the Greeks down, not helped by Inzaghi's evening so far.
Lazio scored again early in the second half. In the 51st minute Inzaghi decided to be the assist man with a through ball to Claudio Lopez who burst past the keeper on the left and put a low shot in the far corner. Lazio 2 Xanthi 0.
Mancini then started to think about the away league game to Torino and took off the best player of the evening, Stefano Fiore and put on Lucas Castromán. The Greeks too made changes, Athanasios Prittas for Jurgen Leitner in the 60th and Sokratis Petrou for Dimitrios Zografakis in the 64th.
In the 67th minute Lazio scored again. César crossed from the left by-line and Inzaghi, unmarked in the middle, headed in confirming his improvement in the second half. Lazio 3 Xanthi 0.
In the 69th minute Inzaghi picked up a loose ball on the by-line and, with surprising skills, skipped past a defender and pulled the ball back to César who blasted a left foot past the keeper and two defenders on the line. Lazio 4 Xanthi 0.
More changes followed for both sides with Enrico Chiesa making his debut but the game had said what it had to say. Lazio were satisfied with the four-goal lead and Xanthi were worried about conceding more. There was only time for a disallowed Castroman goal for a push on a defender. Four goals should be enough to enjoy a relaxing Greek holiday anyway.
A comforting win for Lazio with a clean sheet after the shock defeat and awful defensive display against Chievo.
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Oddo, F. Couto (75' Negro), Mihajlovic, César, Fiore (60' Castroman), D. Baggio, Stankovic, Manfredini, S. Inzaghi, C. Lopez (70' Chiesa)
Substitutes: Marchegiani, Stam, Simeone, Giannichedda
Manager: Mancini
Who played for Xanthi
Bucek, Kordnouris, Papadimitriou, Sfakianakis, Vallas, Zaprapoulos, Leitner (60' Prittas), Ouakili, Zografakis (64' Petrou), Ba (72' Geladaris), Labriokos
Substitutes: Tsakonakis, Kehagias, Andrè Luiz, Friesenbichler
Manager: Karageorgiou
Referee: Siric (Croatia)
Goals: 45' Manfredini, 51' C. Lopez, 67' S. Inzaghi, 69' César
Sources
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