My name is Luka
Game 14, Serie A
Thursday, November 10, 2022
Rome, Stadio Olimpico
Lazio Monza 1-0
Teenager Luka Romero takes Lazio to victory in a very complicated match.
The teams
Maurizio Sarri played with his usual mid-week type of line up so in came Marcos Antonio, Matteo Cancellieri and Elseid Hysaj. Mattia Zaccagni was injured, Ciro Immobile was on the bench but could in no way play 90 minutes yet following his injury, Luis Alberto was not 100%. Monza had lost two consecutive games and it seemed they did not stand a chance, but Lazio’s game against Salernitana should have served as a warning.
The match
In the fourth minute a great run by Felipe Anderson, ball to Cancellieri who charged into the penalty box on the left but was soon surrounded by Monza players so was forced to look for somebody to offload the ball to. He passed it back to Felipe Anderson who saw Sergej Milinkovic-Savic outside the box. The Serb’s shot went just over the crossbar.
Wonderful goal by Andrea Petagna in the 13th minute as he back-heeled a good low cross from Andrea Colpani. However he was offside. Just.
The game was somewhat boring since Monza controlled the ball most of the time but had difficulty finding any gaps in the Lazio defence. The Biancocelesti on the other hand were having trouble creating anything worth mentioning. Milinkovic-Savic seemed a bit subdued and without his creativity everything was left up to Felipe Anderson and Pedro, but one wondered who could actually score.
In the 27th minute Manuel Lazzari was forced off the field due to injury. In came Adam Marusic. A big blow to Lazio as Manuel was creating havoc on the right, but not assisted much by Cancellieri, too timid in his approach to the game.
In the 36th minute another colossal chance for Matias Vecino. Alessio Romagnoli to Vecino who saw Felipe Anderson run into space on the left. Ball to him and Felipetto flew towards the box. Once inside he passed the ball towards the centre and Vecino, unmarked, just inside the box, put the ball wide. In the game against Salernitana Vecino missed two huge chances and Lazio lost. This was a chance that Lazio really should have capitalised on.
Three minutes later, box to box from Colapani who once just outside Lazio’s area, saw a gap and shot. Wide.
Second half
Lazio desperately needed a spark so during the break Sarri substituted Cancellieri with Luka Romero.
In the 59th minute the first substitutions for Monza: out Giulio Donati and Jose Machin, in Marlon and Nicolò Rovella.
Lazio did improve slightly as far as intensity was concerned, but there was a lack of quality in midfield. So in the 61st minute in came Toma Basic and Danilo Cataldi for Vecino and Marcos Antonio. This would prove to be the decisive move.
Cataldi took a corner in the 64th minute, Milinkovic-Savic was unable to connect from a favourable position, Nicolò Casale headed the ball towards Basic who tried an acrobatic shot but it was weak and comfortably saved by Michele Di Gregorio.
The force is strong with this one
In the 69th minute, a Basic-Felipe Anderson one-two. The Croat ran down the left and put in a great low cross that found Pedro who promptly shot. Di Gregorio saved but lost control of the ball. Romero, transformed himself into Immobile and scored. 1-0 for Lazio.
It was his first goal for Lazio. He was the second youngest Lazio player to score a goal in Serie A after Alessandro Capponi who in 1936 scored the winning goal against Lucchese. He was the youngest Argentinian to score a goal in Serie A (previously it was Paolo Dybala). He was the first player born in 2004 to score in Serie A.
Luka Romero was the youngest player ever to play a Liga game (15!!!!) and the youngest to score in the Spanish top League. He may not have been the new Messi, as he was considered by some, but he certainly had talent, ambition and was hungry. Lazio held him in high regard, not just the club but also the players. One could see the difference in the team's attitude with Romero on the field compared to Cancellieri. Despite his age, Lazio players had no reservation in passing the ball to the Argentinian even in difficult situations. The same could not be said when it came to the Italian player.
Lazio in control
Having finally scored, Lazio took control of the game. Monza did not have the energy to come back. In came Gianluca Caprari, Christian Gytkjaer and Andrea Carboni, out went Colpani, Petagna and Armando Izzo.
Cataldi could have made it two in the 82nd minute. Felipe Anderson dispossessed Matteo Pessina and found Danilo just outside the box in a perfectly central position. His shot was weak and Di Gregorio saved. Immobile came on in the 87th minute in place of Pedro. Let’s hope he can play the full 90 minutes against Juventus on Sunday.
Monza pushed hard in the final minutes but were incapable of creating much. Lazio won a very difficult game thanks to Romero and joined Milan in second place.
Who played for Lazio
Provedel; Lazzari (27' Marusic), Casale, Romagnoli, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Marcos Antonio (60' Cataldi), Vecino (60' Basic); Cancellieri (46' Romero), Felipe Anderson, Pedro (86' Immobile).
Manager: Sarri
Who played for Monza
Di Gregorio; Izzo (79' Carboni), Donati (58' Marlon), Caldirola; Ciurria, Machin (58' Rovella), Ranocchia, Carlos Augusto; Colpani (72' Caprari), Pessina; Petagna (69' Gytkjaer)
Substitutes: Cragno, Sorrentino, Barberis, Valoti, Birindelli, Ferrarini, Antov, Bondo, D’Alessandro, Vignato
Manager: Palladino
Referee: Santoro
Goal: 69’ Romero
Booked: Donati, Casale, Marusic
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