Down the drain
Conference League
Round of 16
Thursday, March 7, 2023
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio AZ Alkmaar 1-2
Mistakes, both in defence and in attack, condemn Lazio. It is going to be difficult to go through to the next round, but doable.
The team
Maurizio Sarri decided on a very limited turnover, just Patrick for Alessio Romagnoli. With Ciro Immobile out injured (again), Felipe Anderson was the trusted centre forward.
The match
The first chance came after just two minutes. Mattia Zaccagni went off on the left and crossed low in the box, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic shot wide. Zaccagni repeated himself in exactly the same way in the 18th minute but that time Pedro scored. Lazio one up and in complete control.
At that point the game got boring. Alkmaar had sterile possession, Lazio just watched and occasionally moved forward. In the 26th minute Milinkovic-Savic outside the box on the right crossed to the other side for Pedro. His shot was saved by Matthew Ryan. Alkmaar’s first chance came in the 31st minute. Milos Kerkez crossed from the left, Sven Mijnans shot and hit the woodwork. A possible wake up call for Lazio? No. Milinkovic-Savic in the 45th minute lost the ball near the Lazio penalty box, Tijiani Reijnders passed to Jesper Karlsson on the left in the box, ball to Vangelis Pavlidis, 1-1.
Lazio reacted immediately. In the first minute of injury time, Milinkovic-Savic just outside the box, slightly right, shot and hit the crossbar.
Second half
Nicolò Casale is replaced by Alessio Romagnoli in the interval. Lazio started the second half as they had finished the first. AZ Alkmaar had the majority of possession and Lazio could not get the ball off them. When the Biancocelesti had the ball, the Dutch were much more efficient in their pressing and Lazio simply could not develop their usual game. Having said that, in the 52nd minute Luis Alberto to Felipe Anderson but his shot was too weak and was comfortably saved by the goalkeeper. Milinkovic-Savic had another go in the 59th but with the same result.
In the 62nd minute, Lazio werein trouble at the back, they managed to clear the ball but Pedro lost it, one-two Kerkez-Karlsson and it's 2-1 for AZ.
And then another match started and it was a missing chances saga. In the 73rd minute Luis Alberto on the edge of the box on the left triedto pass to Felipe Anderson but the ball was deflected and Ryan went for the catch. He fumbled, Felipe Anderson waas there ready for the kill but shot too high. In the 76th, Milinkovic-Savic to Felipe Anderson on the right. The Brazilian moved towards the goal line and crossed in to Luis Alberto who kicked it against Clasie. In the 80th minute Zaccagni to Luis Alberto who passed the ball to Felipe Anderson just inside the box. The shot was wide. In the 82nd, a Luis Alberto corner was headed by Romagnoli towards Milinkovic-Savic who shot. Wide, again. In the first minute of a way too short injury time, Mattias Vecino, who in the meantime had substituted Danilo Cataldi, shot from outside the box, but it was comfortably saved by the keeper.
Game over. Lazio lost but should have been kicking themselves for all the missed chances and the two goals conceded. There was still hope, but the ball had got to go in.
Who played for Lazio
Maximiano, Lazzari, Patric, Casale (46' Romagnoli), Marusic, Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi (70' Vecino), Luis Alberto, Pedro (70' Cancellieri), Felipe Anderson, Zaccagni
Substitutes: Provedel, Magro, Gila, Pellegrini, Hysaj, Marcos Antonio, Basic, Romero
Manager: Sarri
Who played fo AZ Alkmaar
Ryan, Sugawara, Goes, Hatzidiakos, Kerkez (82' M. de Wit) , Clasie, Mijnans, Reijnders, Odgaard (82' Mihailovic), Pavlidis (82' Meerdink), Karlsson (82' van Brederode)
Substitutes: Verhulst, Owusu-Oduro, Yusuf Barasi, Lahdo, Buurmeester, Schouten
Manager: Jansen
Referee: Nyberg (Sweden)
Goals: 18’ Pedro, 45’ Pavlidis, 62’ Kerkez
Bookings: Claise, Kerkez
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