May 1, 2016: Lazio -Inter 2-0
- Dag Jenkins
- May 1
- 9 min read
Klose and Candreva send Inter writhing home
An early goal by the German and a late penalty by the Italian completes Lazio's double on the "Biscione".
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had finished an excellent 3rd under Stefano Pioli. They had qualified for a Champions League preliminary round.
This season Pioli was confirmed. The summer market had brought some new players: defenders Wesley Hoedt and Patric (both free agents) midfielders Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Genk) and Ravel Morrison (free agent) plus forwards Ricardo Kishna (Ajax) and Alessandro Matri (Milan-on loan).
Many players were leaving: keeper Thomas Strakosha (Salernitana-on loan), defenders Luís Pedro Cavanda (Trabzonspor), Michaël Ciani, Diego Novaretti and Lorik Cana (all end of contract), midfielders Ederson and Cristian Ledesma (both end of contract) and Álvaro González (Atlas-Mexico).
Not a great improvement to the squad, in fact Lazio were already out of the Champions League (or more like never got in - losing to Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 on aggregate). The Biancocelesti had lost the Italian Supercoppa final to Juventus, 0-2 in August, and then had an up and down start to Serie A.
Lazio had won the first game 2-1 at home to Bologna but then been thrashed by Chievo 0-4 and had never found much consistency. In early April after a 1-4 derby defeat Pioli was sacked and in came Simone Inzaghi. Lazio were then 8th on 42 points (W 11, D 9, L 11). Since then the Biancocelesti had won 2 and lost 2. Lazio were currently joint 8th with Chievo on 48 points.
In the Europa League Lazio had got through the group stage, after 4 wins (Saint - Étienne 3-2 and Dnipro 3-1 at home, Rosenborg home and away 3-1 and 2-0) and 2 draws (Dnipro and Saint-Étienne both 1-1 away). Next up were Galatasaray, beaten 4-2 on aggregate but then Lazio crashed out 1-4 to Sparta Prague in the last 16 (after drawing 1-1 in Prague).
In Coppa Italia Lazio had beaten Udinese 2-1 in the last 16 but then been eliminated by Juventus 0-1 at home in the quarter finals (by a goal by former player Stephan Lichtsteiner).
Inter had finished a poor 8th the previous season. They had started under Walter Mazzarri (1-11) and finished with Roberto Mancini (12-38). The Nerazzurri had drawn 2-2 at home against Lazio but won 2-1 in Rome (with a brace by former Lazio Hernanes). Top scorer was Mauro Icardi with 27 goals (22 in A).
This season Mancini stayed on. The main new signings were: defenders Joāo Miranda (Atlético Madrid), Jeison Murillo (Granada), Davide Santon (back from Newcastle United), Alex Telles (Galatasaray- on loan), midfielders Geoffrey Kondogbia (Monaco), Adem Ljajić (Roma), Felipe Melo (Galatasaray), Ivan Perišić (Wolfsburg) plus forwards Jonathan Biabiany (Parma) and Stevan Jovetić (Manchester City). In the winter window forward Eder (Sampdoria) had been added.
Leaving were: defenders Marco Andreolli (Sevilla), Hugo Campagnaro (Pescara), Jonathan (Fluminense), midfielders Hernanes (Juventus), Mateo Kovačić (Real Madrid), Zdravko Kuzmanović (Basel), Joel Obi (Torino) and forward Lukas Podolski (end of loan from Arsenal and then Galatasaray). In the winter, defenders Andrea Ranocchia (Sampdoria - on loan), Nemanja Vidić (retiring) and midfielder Freddy Guarín (Shanghai Shenhua) had also gone.
In Serie A the Nerazzurri were currently in 4th place on 64 points but miles from league leaders Juventus on 85. Inter had won 19 (including the first 5 and a derby), drawn 7 and lost 9 (including Lazio 1-2 at home). Their most recent result was a 3-1 home win over Udinese.
Inter had started the season well and in early January were top of the table but had then faded (6 defeats in last 17 games).
In Coppa Italia they had eliminated Cagliari 3-0, Napoli 2-0 away but then lost to Juventus on penalties in the semi-final. A pity for the Nerazzurri who had staged a great comeback in the return leg after a 0-3 defeat in Turin to force the penalty shootout.
An unpredictable game today. Neither team had much to play for, Inter were already qualified for the Europa League and Lazio were in limbo. Inter were 13 points ahead but Lazio had already beaten them away and today had the home crowd behind them.
The match: Sunday, May 1, 2016, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A crowd of only 20,000 turned up for this evening's game, a result of the May 1 holiday but also of the two clubs' lack of objectives.
Lazio were without defenders Stefan de Vrij and Stefan Radu, midfielder Marco Parolo plus forwards Filip Djordjevic and Alessandro Matri. Inter were missing midfielders Felipe Melo and Adem Ljajić.
Lazio seemed the more determined and energetic of the two to start.
In the 8th minute the Biancocelesti took the lead. A Senad Lulic-Miroslav Klose one-two at the edge of the box sent the German striker charging towards Samir Handanovic, the "Fisher King" waited until the last moment and then cleverly scooped the ball over the Slovenian and into the net. Lazio 1 Inter 0.
Inter's reaction was with a Stevan Jovetic close range effort when he latched onto a Geoffrey Kondogbia chip into the area but his shot was central and Federico Marchetti saved low with his feet.
Antonio Candreva then tried his luck with a cracking shot from 25 metres out but Handanovic tipped it over the bar. Then it was Keita Balde who caused havoc inside the area on the left but his left foot was parried by Handanovic.
Halftime came with Lazio deservedly in front, 1-0.
Inter looked more interested in the second half and attacked more. The first shot however was by Lazio when Candreva fired a low freekick from the right but it went a couple of metres off target.
Inter had chances with Ivan Perisic who pulled a left foot wide, a Mario Icardi header from a corner with Jovetic lunging in on the far post trying to get a touch, Perisic but his left footed effort become more of a cross than a shot and again the Croat but Marchetti punched away his curling but too central freekick.
Meanwhile both sides had made changes. Inter had replaced midfielder Gary Medel with more attacking Jonathan Biabiany in the 55th minute, forward Éder for Jovetić in the 72nd and Rodrigo Palacio for defender Yūto Nagatomo in the 79th. Lazio had taken off goal scorer Klose for Stefano Mauri in the 72nd.
In the 80th minute Jeison Murillo got his first booking for a foul on Mauri and three minutes later he was off. In the 83rd minute he tripped Keita in the area giving away a penalty and getting his marching orders at the same time.
Antonio Candreva put away the spot kick with a perfect execution. He blasted a shot into the top left-hand corner which would not have given any keeper in the world a chance. Lazio 2 Inter 0.
With Lazio two nil up and Inter a man down the game was over. There was only time for two more substitutions for Lazio: Sergej Milinkovic-Savic for Candreva in the 88th minute and Danilo Cataldi for Lucas Biglia in the 92nd.
A good win for Lazio. A bit too little too late but it was always satisfying beating one of the so-called "Big Three". Lazio had now done the "double" on the Nerazzurri this season. The Biancocelesti were now solitary 8th on 51 points, 2 above Chievo (0-0 at home to Fiorentina) and 3 behind Milan (3-3 at home to Frosinone).
Inter had tried harder and improved in the second half but it was not enough as they fell to their 10th defeat of the season. They were still 4th on 64 points, 4 ahead of Fiorentina in 5th.
Who played for Lazio
Marchetti, Basta, Bisevac, Gentiletti, Konko, Onazi, Biglia (92' Cataldi), Lulic, Candreva (88' Milinkovic-Savic), Klose (72' Mauri), Keita
Manager: S. Inzaghi
Who played for Inter
Handanovic, D'Ambrosio, Miranda, Murillo, Nagatomo (79' Palacio), Medel (55' Biabiany), Kondogbia, Brozovic, Jovetic (72' Eder), Perisic, Icardi
Manager: Mancini
Referee: Banti
Goals: 8' Klose, 84' Candreva (pen)
Red Card: 83' Murillo
What happened next
Lazio finished 8th. In the last two games they won 1 (Carpi 3-1 away) and lost 1 (Fiorentina 2-4 at home), a fair reflection of their inconsistent season. A disappointing year after the previous year's 3rd place. Top scorer was Antonio Candreva with 12 goals (10 in A).
Inter finished 4th (EL). In the remaining games they beat Empoli 2-1 at home and then lost 1-3 at Sassuolo. An improvement on the previous campaign but still mediocre for Inter standards. Top scorer was Icardi with 16 league goals.
Serie A was won by Juventus for their 32nd title while Verona, Frosinone and Carpi went down to Serie B (the Emiliani are now in Serie C).
Let's talk about Miroslav Klose
Klose is considered to be one of the best centre-forwards of all time and he currently still holds the record of number of total goals scored in the World Cup (16).
Born in Opole, Poland, on June 9 1978, his family moved to Germany in 1986. He began his career in Homburg but in 1999 he was noticed by Kaiserslautern and began playing for the B team. He did so well (20 goals) that he quickly moved up to the A team and started playing his first games in the Bundesliga.
In four seasons with Kaiserslautern he scored consistently, always getting into double figures and also started playing for Germany. He kept on scoring for his next club Werder Bremen, where he stayed until 2007. He was top scorer in the Bundesliga in 2005-06 and top scorer in the 2006 World Cup.
In 2007 he started playing for Bayern Munich and won the Bundesliga in his first year. He won it again in his third year in Bavaria but did not play so much due to injury and also because manager Van Gaal preferred Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller. His final year in Bayern was pretty dismal on an individual level as he played very rarely. His contract expired and he started looking for a new team. Lazio knocked on his door and he moved to Rome.
He played five seasons for Lazio. Lots of ups and a few downs. No discussion on how good he was, but at times he gave fans the feeling that the German national team and the World Cup had priority. He consistently missed at least a couple of months a year due to injury, often in the worst possible moments. But when he was on the pitch he did what he was famous for: scoring goals. His passion for fishing (he was often spotted at nearby Lake Bracciano) gave him the nickname “Goal Fisher”.
He played 171 games for Lazio with 63 goals (139 in Serie A with 54 goals, 11 in Coppa Italia and 3 goals, 18 games in Europa League with 6 goals, one match in Champions League and 2 in the Italian Supercoppa). He is the foreign player with most goals in Serie A for the Biancocelesti.
There are three moments to remember in Klose’s history with Lazio. His winning goal in the last minute of the 2011 derby, five goals in a single game against Bologna in May 2013, and the win over Roma in the Coppa Italia final of 2013 which was his only trophy with Lazio.
Klose is of course an icon of his national team. He played 137 times for his country and scored 71 goals. He was part of the German squad in the 2002 World Cup (5 goals, Germany were runners-up), Euro 2004, 2006 World Cup (5 goals, Germany were third), Euro 2008 (two goals, runners-up), 2010 World Cup (4 goals, 3rd place), Euro 2012 (lost in semi-final, one goal), and in the victorious 2014 World Cup in Brazil where he scored one goal.
In total he has won the Bundesliga twice with Bayern Munich, 2 German League Cups (Werder Bremen and Bayern), a German Super Cup with Bayern and a Coppa Italia. He won the World Cup in 2014. He is the World Cup’s all-time record goal scorer; Germany national team all-time record goal scorer, only player with four consecutive FIFA World Cup podium finishes: runner-up in 2002, third place in 2006, third place in 2010, winner in 2014; only men's player to appear in four consecutive FIFA World Cup semi-finals: 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014; one of three players to score at least five goals in multiple World Cups; most goals from headers in a single edition of the men's FIFA World Cup; one of eight players in Serie A history to score five goals in one match.
So, all in all not a bad career!!!
After having trained the under 17s in Bayern Munich from 2018 to 2020, he was assistant to Bayern manager Hans-Dieter Flick in 2020-21. In 2022-23 he was manager of Altach in Austria. He is now currently manager of Nürnberg (Nuremberg) in 2 Fußball-Bundesliga (German second tier).
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa Leage | Super Coppa |
2011-12 | 35 (15) | 27 (12) | 2 | - | 6 (3) | - |
2012-13 | 36 (16) | 29 (15) | 2 | - | 5 (1) | - |
2013-14 | 29 (8) | 25 (7) | - | - | 3 (1) | 1 |
2014-15 | 40 (16) | 34 (13) | 6 (3) | - | - | - |
2015-16 | 31 (8) | 24 (7) | 1 | 1 | 4 (1) | 1 |
Total | 171 (63) | 139 (54) | 11 (3) | 1 | 18 (6) | 2 |
Sources
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