November 1 2020: Torino-Lazio 3-4
Caicedo decides rollercoaster
The Ecuadorian clinches epic comeback with last kick of the game
The season so far
The world and football were still very much affected by the Covid-19. Matches were being played in empty stadiums but as they say the show must go on.
Lazio had finished 4th the previous season. Until February Lazio were unstoppable and considered the favourites for the Scudetto but then the pandemic changed everything. When football returned the relentless fixture program and injuries exposed Lazio's lack of squad depth and the dream was shattered. A consolation was the first Champions League qualification for 13 years.
Lazio had confirmed Simone Inzaghi as manager but had made some changes to the squad in the summer. The majority of the new players were proving to be disappointing so far. The new arrivals were veteran goalkeeper Pepe Reina (Milan), defenders Wesley Hoedt (Southampton -back on loan), Mohamed Fares (Spal), midfielders Jean Daniel Akpa Akpro (Salernitana), Andreas Pereira (Man.U. - loan), Gonzalo Escalante (free agent - Eibar) plus striker Vedat Muriqi (Fenerbahçe). In January Lazio would add defender Matteo Musacchio (Milan) to their squad.
Leaving Lazio had been goalkeeper Guido Guerrieri (Salernitana), defenders Jordan Lukaku (Antwerp), Wallace (Yeni Malatyaspor), Bastos (Al-Ain), midfielders André Anderson (Salernitana - loan), Milan Badelj (Genoa), Jony (Osasuna - loan with option to buy) and striker Bobby Adekanye (Cadiz - loan). In January there would be further departures: defenders Durmisi (Salernitana - loan), Denis Vavro (Huesca - loan) and goalkeeper Silvio Proto had retired.
In Serie A Lazio had so far played 5 games with 2 wins (Cagliari 2-0 away and most recently Bologna 2-1 at home), 1 draw (Inter 1-1 at home) and 2 defeats (Atalanta 1-4 away on debut and Sampdoria 0-3 away). The Biancocelesti were 12th on 7 points, with Fiorentina and Cagliari.
As mentioned the new players were to various degrees underperforming and not adding quality and the depth of choice Inzaghi had hoped for. It was still early however so it was hoped they would soon settle in.
In the Champions League they had played 2 games; a great 3-1 win against Borussia Dortmund at home and a 1-1 away draw at Club Brugge. Next up on November 4 were Zenit Saint Petersburg away.
In the Coppa Italia Lazio would play Parma in the last 16 but not until January.
Today's opposition Torino had finished 16th the previous season. The manager was first Walter Mazzarri (1-22) and then Moreno Longo (23-38). Toro had lost to Lazio both in Rome 0-4 and in Turin 1-2. They had also played in the Europa League but lost to Wolves 3-5 on aggregate in the playoffs in August. The top scorer was Andrea Belotti with 22 goals (16 in A).
This season the manager was Marco Giampaolo. The main new signings were: goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Standard Liege - back from loan), defenders Alessandro Buongiorno (Trapani - back from loan), Nicola Murru (Sampdoria - on loan), Ricardo Rodriguez (PSV via Milan) and Mërgom Vojvoda (Standard Liege), midfielders Amer Gojak (Dinamo Zagreb - on loan) and Karol Linetty (Sampdoria) plus forward Federico Bonazzoli (Sampdoria - on loan). In January they would add midfielder Rolando Mandragora (Udinese - on loan) and forward Antonio Sanabria (Betis Sevilla)
Leaving Torino were: defenders Kevin Bonifazi (SPAL), Lorenzo De Silvestri (Bologna), Koffi Djidji (Crotone - on loan) and Ola Aina (Fulham - on loan) plus forward Alejandro Berenguer (Athletic Bilbao). In January midfielder Soualiho Meïté (Milan - on loan) and forward Simone Edera (Reggina - on loan) would also leave.
Torino were currently 15th on 4 points. The Granata had won 1 (Genoa 2-1 away), drawn 1 (Sassuuolo 3-3 away) and lost 3 (Fiorentina 0-1 away, Atalanta 2-4 and Cagliari 2-3 at home). A team that scored goals but conceded even more.
Two unpredictable teams were facing each other today. Lazio were clearly the stronger and would have to exploit Toro's defensive weaknesses.
The match: Sunday, November 1, 2020, Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Turin
There were still no fans allowed inside the stadiums due to the Covid-19 crisis. A hazy day with a pale sun welcomed Lazio to the beautiful and often underrated town of Turin. A classic Sunday 3 pm kick off but Lazio had played Brugge away on the previous Wednesday.
Lazio had several absences: defenders Stefan Radu, Adam Marušić and Manuel Lazzari plus midfielders Luis Alberto, Gonzalo Escalante and Senad Lulic. The Biancocelesti had six youth players on the bench.
Torino were without defender Armando Izzo and forward Simone Zaza.
Lazio were in flourescent green while Torino played in their traditional maroon shirts.
After fifteen minutes of the game suddenly came alive. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic found Vedat Muriqi inside the area on the left and the Kosovar crossed to the other side of the box where Patric cleverly laid it back to the incoming Andreas Pereira who hit a first time, low, half-volley, cross goal shot which beat the Toro keeper on the far post, 0-1. An excellent team move.
In the 19th minute Karol Linetty weaved his way through the Lazio defence inside the box on the left and shot low but Pepe Reina a bit fortouisly saved into corner with a foot.
On the subsequent corner the Lazio defence completely lost Gleison Bremer who had a free header and equalised, 1-1.
Lazio almost immediately took back the lead as in the 22nd minute Francesco Acerbi crossed from the left and Patric had relatively easy volley but he blasted it over the bar.
A minute later the Granata were awarded a penalty. Andrea Belotti went down touched just inside the box by Pereira and the referee after a moment of hesitation pointed to the penalty spot. Belotti hit a low, central shot which Reina touched but it went in anyway, 2-1.
The second half Simone Inzaghi made two changes, off went Marco Parolo and Pereira (on a booking) and on came Lucas Leiva and Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro.
Lazio started well and equalised after only three minutes. On a central free-kick from just outside the box Sergej Mikinkovic-Savic curled a shot over the wall and into the bottom left hand corner, 2-2.
In the 55th minute the Granata went extremely close to going in front again. Belotti raced into the left side of the area and crossed to the far post where Simone Verdi hit the post from close range with the keeper beaten.
In the 56th minute Lazio introduced Ciro Immobile for Muriqi.
Lazio had a big chance in the 58th minute. Luiz Felipe crossed into the middle of the area where Milinkovic-Savic and Bremer jumped but missed the ball which bounced off a defender and reached Akpa Akpro who shot but it was cleared on the goal-line by Mërgim Vojvoda.
In the 70th minute Torino seemed to get more cautious as they took off Verdi and put on a defender Nicolas Nkoulou and also replaced Vojdova with Wilfried Singo. In the 76th minute they also changed an injured Belotti with forward Federico Bonazzoli. The Granata now played with five at the back.
Meanwhile Lazio's change in the 73rd minute was more ambitious, taking off Joaquin Correa for well-known late opposition party pooper Felipe Caicedo.
In the 81st minute Danilo Cataldi came on for Mohamed Fares.
Neither side were particularly satisfied with a point although Torino's changes and approach hinted they would not be too upset.
In the 87th minute however they were gifted the possibility of all three by a Wesley Hoedt blunder. The Dutchman, on the left edge of the box, was naively pushed off the ball by Saša Lukić who then went sideways past Reina and slotted in despite Acerbi and Ramos' desperate slides on the line, 3-2. It looked like the winner.
In the 91st minute however Lazio were awarded a penalty. Patric squared from the right to Immobile who hit it first time and it was blocked by Nkoulou with an arm. The referee played on but VAR called his attention to the episode. In the replay Nkoulou looked to protect his face with his right hand but with his left went slightly towards the ball. The movement was enough for Chiffi to give the penalty. Immobile finally took the spotkick in the 96th minute and put a powerful shot to Salvatore Sirigu's right, 3-3.
A fair draw in the end but Caicedo for one had other ideas.
In the 98th minute from near the halfway line Danilo Cataldi floated one last hopeful free-kick into the box. Hoedt jumped up and headed up in the air, the ball bounced and Caicedo tried to control it surrounded by three defenders, the ball ricocheted flipperlike and next thing the Ecuadorian pounced near the right post and, still between thre defenders, managed to shoot and score, 3-4. Luck, bad defending, opportunism or all three but more importantly Lazio had turned it around in "Zona Caicedo".
In the 100th minute the referee blew for full-time. An epic win for Lazio and very similar to the incredible last gasp comeback in Cagliari the previous season again with a Caicedo winner, who else.
A crazy game, a thriller for the history books. Lazio never lost belief while Torino decided to defend too deep late on and were cruely punished.
Lazio were now joint 9th, on 10 points with Sampdoria. Next up was Juventus at home but before they had a trip to Saint-Petersburg in the Champions League.
Torino were down to 18th and in the releagation zone. They would now play an important home game against Crotone.
Who played for Torino
Sirigu, Vojvoda (70' Singo), Lyanco, Bremer, Rodríguez, Meite, Rincon, Linetty, Lukic, Verdi (70' Nkoulou), Belotti (76' Bonazzoli)
Substitutes: Rosati, V.Milinkovic-Savic, Segre, Gojak, Ansaldi, Edera, Murru, Vianni, Buongiorno
Manager: Giampaolo
Who played for Lazio
Reina, Luiz Felipe, Hoedt, Acerbi, Patric, S. Milinkovic-Savic, Parolo (46' Leiva), Andreas Pereira (46' Akpa Akpro), Fares (81' Cataldi), Correa (73' Caicedo), Muriqi (56' Immobile)
Manager: S.Inzaghi
Referee: Chiffi
Goals: 15' Andreas Pereira, 19' Bremer, 25' Belotti (pen), 49' S. Milinkovic-Savic, 87' Lukic, 90+5 Immobile (pen), 90+8 Caicedo
What happened next
Lazio continued to be up and down until early January. Until then they won 3, drew 3 (including Juventus 1-1 at home with a 95th minute Caicedo equaliser) and lost 3. From January 6 to February 20 they then won 6 out of 7 (including derby 3-0). The Biancocelesti pushed up to one point from the CL slots. They were then abruptly brought down to earth with a 0-2 defeat in Bologna.
The wind went out of their sails and the Biancocelesti ended up 6th. Despite a 3-0 win against Milan, five more defeats (including the return derby) "condemned" Lazio to a Europa League qualification.
Their season finished with 21 wins, 5 draws and 12 defeats, so with 68 points.
The squad, especially due to the new arrivals, did not have enough strength in depth to go the distance competitively in the various competitions. Vedat Muriqi in particular was an absolute disaster and only scored 1 league goal. There was however no way he could have really been as useless as he was with Lazio, in fact he then enjoyed some success in the Liga in Spain with Mallorca (with 58 goals) and now with Fenerbahce again, plus 15 more goals for Kosovo bringing his total up to 33.
In the Champions League Lazio finished the group unbeaten. They then won 1 (Zenit 3-1 at home) and drew 3 (Zenit and Borussia Dortmund both 1-1 away and Club Brugge 2-2 at home). In the last 16 they faced Bayern Munich who proved too strong and Lazio were beaten 1-4 at home and 1-2 away.
In Coppa Italia, Lazio beat Parma 2-0 but then lost 2-3 away to Atalanta in the quarterfinals.
Immobile was top scorer again with a total of 25 goals (20 in the league).
This would turn out to be Simone Inzaghi's last season at Lazio. He made a surprise departure to Inter after disagreements with President Lotito before the beginning of the following season. Lazio then appointed Maurizio Sarri.
Torino finished 17th. In the next 12 games they won 1, drew 6 and lost 5 (including derby 1-2 away). After the 18th fixture (a 0-0 home draw with Spezia) Giampaolo was sacked and in came Davide Niclola. Torino were then 18th, in the relegation zone, on 13 points. In the remaining games under Nicola they won 5 (including Roma 3-1 at home), drew 9 (including derby 2-2 and Lazio 0-0 away) and lost 6 (including Milan 0-7 at home). They ended up on 37 points (+ 4 on B zone). The top scorer was Andrea Belotti with 13 league goals.
In the Coppa Italia in January the Granata lost away to Milan on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Intee won their 19th Scudetto while Benevento, Crotone and Parma were relegated (only Parma have made it back up). Juventus won the Coppa Italia beating Atalanta 2-1.
The Champions League was won by Chelsea who defeated Manchester City 1-0 in Porto.
Let's talk about Angelo Ndreçka
Angelo Ndreçka was born in Desenzano del Garda, on September 24, 2001 to Albanian parents.
He is a product of Chievo academy. On May 4 2019 he made his debut in Serie A for the Clivensi in a 0-4 defeat to SPAL. It would remain his only game under manager Domenico Di Carlo.
On July 17 2019 he signed Lazio and joined the U19 squad. He appeared a few times on the bench for the first team but never made his debut under manager Simon Inzaghi.
In 2021-22 he spent a season on loan at Teramo in Serie C. He played 13 league games and the Biancorossi finshed 15th under manager Federico Guidi.
In July 2022 he joined Pro Patria on a permanent basis. The Biancoblu were in Serie C and he stayed two seasons. He played 70 league games and scored 1 goal. The Tigrotti finished 12th under Chilean Jorge Vargas and 12th again under Riccardo Colombo.
In 2024-25 he joined Virtus Entella from Chiavari in Liguria. The Diavoli Neri (Black Devils) were in Serie C and won the league and promotion under Fabio Gallo. They also won the Supercoppa Serie C (versus other group winners Avellino and Padova). Ndreçka played 15 league games.
In 2025-26 he played for Ternana in Serie C. He played 35 league games with 1 goal and the Rossoverdi finished 9th. His managers were first former Lazio player Fabio Liverani (1-31) and then Pasquale Fazio (32-38). In the summer the Umbri went bust and Nuova Ternana 2025 started from Serie D.
Ndreçka is currently with Cittadella in Serie C. He is playing regulary under manager Roberto Musso. On October 19 he scored the winner in a 1-0 home win against Arzignano.
At international level he played 2 games for Albania U19s with 1 goal and 12 games for the U21s (2019-2022). He also holds an Italian passport.
Ndreçka is a left full-back. He has not made it at top level but he is carving out a decent career in the 3rd tier of Italian football. At 25 he still has a long footballing future ahead of him.
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