Lazio Rocchi on in the rain
- Dag Jenkins
- Feb 3, 2024
- 4 min read
Game 21, Serie A
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio Sampdoria 2-1
A wonderful goal by the number 18 gives Lazio important win
In Serie A so far, Lazio were 14th after 20 games; winning 4, drawing 8 (including Sampdoria 0-0 and recent 0-0 at Torino) and losing 8 (including derby 2-3 and Milan 1-5 at home). The Biancocelesti had 20 points in the table (only 3 above the drop zone, Siena on 17).
Sampdoria were 6th on 28 points, after 8 wins (including recent 1-0 at home to Siena), 4 draws (including Lazio at home, Juventus away and derby all 0-0) and 8 defeats (including Milan 0-5 at home and 7 out of 10 away).
A difficult game for struggling Lazio since Sampdoria, at least in the league, were doing well. The good news for Lazio was their negative away record.
The Biancocelesti had not won for two months in the league and could not afford to drop more points if they did not want to plummet into the thick of the relegation battle.
The match
A grey and rainy day in Rome only attracted about 20,000 to the Olimpico.
Lazio were missing defenders Lorenzo De Silvestri, Aleksandar Kolarov and Luciano Zauri plus midfielder Massimo Mutarelli. Stefan Radu was making his league debut for Lazio.
Sampdoria had to do without defender Stefano Lucchini, midfielder Paolo Sammarco and veteran forward Vincenzo Montella. The latter, "Aeroplanino" would not be missed by the Lazio fans seeing he had once scored four goals in a single derby while playing for Roma.
The game was balanced from the word go. There was not much action however as the players tried to get used to the pouring rain. The only thing to note was Sergio Volpi going off injured in the 16th minute and being replaced by Gennaro Delvecchio (so fortunately not the former Roma player).
Of the two teams however, it was Sampdoria who seemed to adapt better to the conditions and used the drier wings more efficiently.
Lazio however thought they had got the breakthrough in the 19th minute as Stefano Mauri deflected a Cristian Ledesma shot into the net but the Lombard was judged to be offside
The next chance was for the visitors and it was a huge one. In the 22nd minute Sebastiano Siviglia messed up the offside trap allowing Claudio Bellucci to charge forward on the right and square into the middle but Antonio Cassano with time and space managed to hit a seemingly easy finish into the Curva Nord (much to the delight of the home fans).
A miss which was later punished as in the 38th minute Lazio scored. Mauri took advantage of a moment of confusion in the Doria area and fired a low left footed shot past Luca Castellazzi, 1-0.
The Blucerchiati however reacted well to the setback and equalised just before halftime. In the 46th a similar move to the previous miss was finished off perfectly by Cassano who fired it into the roof of the net, 1-1.
In the second half started with a clever assist by Cassano for Bellucci but the Roman-born forward hit it straight at Marco Ballotta.
The game then went quiet for a while especially as Sampdoria's high press started to fade.
In the 51st minute Lazio took off a more geometrical midfielder, Ousmane Dabo, and put on a quicker and more creative one, Christian Manfredini.
Sampdoria continued to tire and Lazio started to push forward more.
In the 54th minute a Radu effort hit the side netting.
The deadlock was broken in the 77th minute. An excellent Tommaso Rocchi-Goran Pandev one-two was cleverly brought down by the Venetian who then turned on himself and placed a brilliant left-footed strike in at the far post, 2-1. A good move and brilliantly taken by Rocchi.
In the 80th minute Sampdoria tried to increase their attacking power by taking off former Lazio, Daniele Franceschini and putting on forward Emiliano Bonazzoli. Five minutes later they also fielded Reto Ziegler instead of Mirko Pieri. Lazio had responded a minute earlier by introducing defender David Rozehnal for Mauri.
Sampdoria however were exhausted and it was Lazio who went closer to scoring again. In the 88th minute Pandev was all alone with a one-on-one with Castellazzi but put it wide.
The referee gave three minutes of added time and in the last, just to break things up a bit or give Rocchi a round of applause, the match-winner was replaced by Igli Tare. Final score Lazio 2 Sampdoria 1.
All in all, a deserved win for Lazio even if just for the quality of the winner. Sampdoria had played well for an hour but had not paced themselves and in the last half hour Lazio had looked harder for the three points and ultimately clinched them.
A useful three points for Lazio who were now joint 12th, on 23 points with Catania (+5 on B, Reggina on 18).
Sampdoria were joint 8th, on 28 points with Palermo and Genoa.
Who played for Lazio
Ballotta, Behrami, Siviglia, Cribari, Radu, Mudingayi, Ledesma, Dabo (51' Manfredini), Mauri (85' Rozehnal), Pandev, Rocchi (93' Tare)
Manager: Rossi
Who played for Sampdoria
Castellazzi, Campagnaro, Gastaldello, Accardi, Maggio, Franceschini (80' Bonazzoli), Volpi (16' Delvecchio), Palombo, Pieri (86' Ziegler), Cassano, Bellucci
Substitutes: Mirante, Sala, Poli, Zenoni
Manager: Mazzarri
Referee: Orsato
Goals: 38' Mauri, 46' Cassano, 77' Rocchi
Sources
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