November 5, 2015: Rosenborg-Lazio 0-2, Europa League
- Dag Jenkins
- 3 hours ago
- 10 min read
A Serb shines on Trondheimsfjord
Two goals by Djordjevic put Lazio on verge of qualification
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 but lost 1-3 to Bayer Leverkusen on aggregate.
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). The Biancocelesti had lost the Italian Supercoppa final to Juventus, 0-2 in August, and were having an up and down start to Serie A.
So far, in Serie A Lazio had won six: Bologna 2-1, Udinese 2-0, Genoa 2-0, Verona 2-1, Frosinone 2-0 and Torino 3-0, but also been thrashed by Chievo 0-4, Napoli 0-5 and lost 1-2 to Atalanta and Sassuolo all away and 1-3 at home to Milan. Six wins and five defeats. They had to find some consistency. Lazio were currently 7th on 18 points.
In their Europa League debut, they had obtained their only draw of the season so far, 1-1 away at Dnipro in Russia but the hosts had equalised in the 94th minute after Sergej Milinkovic-Savic had put Lazio ahead in the first half. They had then won the next two; Saint-Étienne 3-2 and tonight's opposition Rosenborg 3-1, both at home. The table read: Lazio 7, Dnipro 4, Saint-Étienne 4, Rosenborg 1.
Rosenborg, from Trondheim in Norway, had finished 2nd in the 2014 Elitserien behind Molde. The managers were first Per Joar Hansen (until July 21) and then Kåre Ingerbrigtsen. The top scorer was Alexander Søderlund with 15 goals (13 in league). In the 2014-15 Europa League they had reached the 3rd qualifying round but lost to Turkish club Karabükspor on away goals.
This season the manager was still Ingerbrigsten. In the current Norwegian Eliteserien (the league is played from March to November) Rosenborg were top of the table. They had also qualified for the final of the Norgesmesterskapet (domestic cup) which would be played on November 22 against Sarsborg 08 at the Ulevaal Stadion in Oslo.
To get to the group stage the "Troillongan" (Troll kids) had eliminated Vikingur Gøta (Faroe Islands) 2-0, KR Reykjavik (Iceland) 4-0, Debrecen (Hungary) 6-3 and Steaua Bucarest 3-1, all on aggregate.
So far in the group the Norwegians had drawn 1 (Saint-Étienne 2-2 away) and lost 2 (Dnipro 0-1 at home and Lazio 1-3 away).
Lazio were favourites this evening but it was not expected to be a formality. Two weeks earlier Lazio had won 3-1 despite being in ten men for 84 minutes but away games in Europe were always tricky and the climate with a 9.05 p.m. start could be an extra factor at these latitudes (it is known for the first snow to arrive as early as October).
The match: Thursday, November 5, 2015, Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim
Lazio were welcomed in the old city of Nidaros in the Trøndelag region of Norway by a cold but acceptable climate. The atmosphere was warmer inside the Lerkendal Stadion with just under 20,000 spectators present, including 300 from Rome.
Compared to the game in Rome the Norwegians fielded Dane Tobias Mikkelsen in midfield and Pål André Helland up front instead of Swede Mikael Dorsin and Yann-Erik de Lanlay.
Lazio, with the derby coming up, went for a massive turnover. From the starting line-up Stefano Pioli left out Stefano Mauri, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Senad Lulic, Felipe Anderson and Miro Klose.
Lazio started well and after only five minutes Ricardo Kishna was one-on-one with the keeper but was hypnotised by Hansen who saved.
Four minutes later however Lazio scored. In the 9th minute on a Kishna corner Filip Djordjevic timed his jump perfectly and headed past Hansen, 0-1.
The hosts then threatened immediately with a cross by Helland which touched the post before Wesley Hoedt cleared.
It was a flash in the pan for the home side as Lazio controlled the game without further risks. The Romans were quite content to leave the initiative to the Nordic players and then strike on the break.
Ravel Morrison set up by Kishna had a good effort saved by the keeper and then in the 29th minute Lazio scored again. Djordjevic won back the ball and passed to Ogenyi "Eddy" Onazi who raced into the area before returning the ball to the Serb striker whose left foot gave the keeper no chance, 0-2.
In the 33rd minute the locals replaced Tore Reginiussen with Johan Lædre Bjørdal but Lazio continued to dominate. Djordjevic, teed up by Kishna again, missed a sitter that could have definitely put the game out of the Trondhjemmer's reach. Just before the break there was a clear penalty on Stefan Radu for a foul by Jonas Svensson but the referee was of a different view. Antonio Candreva then missed an easy chance by hitting his shot straight at the keeper. Halftime Rosenborg 0 Lazio 2.
An authoritative 45 minutes by Lazio who could have been leading by an even wider margin.
For the second half probably with the derby in mind Lazio took off Candreva and brought on Keita Balde. The Spanish-Senegalese immediately threatened with a shot which was deflected by Bjørdal and went just wide.
In the 62nd minute off went Fredrik Midtsjø and on came Emil Ceide Konradsen and in the 66th Icelandic Matthías Vilhjálmsson replaced star striker Alexander Søderlund while Lazio changed strikers bringing on Alessandro Matri for Djordjevic
Lazio then started to seem a little distracted. Rosenborg had a couple of dangerous shots by Mike Jensen but Etrit Berisha parried.
Lazio then had more chances on the break but Abdoulay Konko and Matri were unable to take advantage of the hosts' unbalanced setup.
In the 76th minute Mauri came on for Morrison. In the 83rd minute Keita reacted unnecessarily to a foul by Helland and was sent off.
Even with ten men Lazio covered the field well and managed to bring home a good 2-0 away win.
A convincing win by Lazio despite fielding mainly reserves. Lazio were now almost qualified, they needed only one more point in the next two games. The table now read: Lazio 10, Saint-Étienne 7, Dnipro 4, Rosenborg 1.
Rosenborg were out but could now concentrate on their imminent league triumph.
Who played for Rosenborg
Hansen, Svensson, Eyjolfsson, Reginiussen (33' Bjordal), Skjelvik, Jensen, Selnæs, Midtsjø (62' Konradsen), Mikkelsen, Søderlund (66' Vihjálmsson), Helland
Substitutes: A.L. Hansen, de Lanlay, Pedersen, Stamnestrø
Manager: Ingebrigtsen
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Konko, Gentiletti, Hoedt, Radu, Cataldi, Kishna, Onazi, Morrison (76' Mauri), Candreva (46' Keita), Djordjevic (66' Matri)
Substitutes: Guerrieri, Basta, Murgia, Oikonomidis
Manager: Pioli
Referee: Marriner (GB)
Goals: 9' Djordjevic, 29' Djordjevic
Red Card: 83' Keita
What happened next
Lazio then lost the derby and in Serie A were inconsistent all season. On April 3 after a heavy 1-4 derby defeat Pioli was sacked and replaced by Simone Inzaghi. Under Pioli after the trip to Norway the Biancocelesti won 5, drew 9 and lost 6 (including both derbies). With "Simoncino", Lazio won four and lost three and ended up 8th. The top scorer was Candreva with 12 goals (10 in A).
In January Lazio brought in central defender Milan Biševac but it was clearly not enough to strengthen the squad.
In the Europa League, still under Pioli, Lazio reached the last 16. In the first stage they then won their group beating Dnipro 3-1 at home and drawing with Saint Etienne 1-1 away. Lazio then knocked out Galatasaray (4-2 on aggregate) but then fell to Sparta Prague (1-4 on aggregate, crumbling 0-3 at home).
In the Coppa Italia, in December, Lazio defeated Udinese 2-1 at home but then lost in the quarter final to Juventus 0-1 (with a goal by former Lazio, Stephan Lichtsteiner). Lazio's top scorer was Antonio Candreva with 12 goals (10 in league)
All in all, a disappointing season for Lazio.
Rosenborg then drew 1-1 at home to Saint-Étienne and lost 0-3 away to Dnipro. The final table read: Lazio 14 (q), Saint-Étienne (q), Dnipro 7, Rosenborg 2.
Rosenborg won their 23rd league title in Norway. The Black and Whites also won the double defeating Sarsborg 08 in the final 2-0. Top scorer was Søderlund again with 29 goals (22 in league). Rosenborg have since won another three league titles and two more Norwegian Cups but the most recent were in 2018 (the double) plus two Norwegian Super Cups (last in 2018). In recent years they have suffered from the rise of Bodø/Glimt as the dominant club in Norway.
Serie A winners were Juventus for the 32nd time while the Europa League was won by Sevilla who defeated Liverpool 3-1 at the St. Jacob-Park in Basel, Switzerland.
Let's talk about Filip Djordjević
Filip Djordjevic was born in Belgrade, on September 17, 1987.
He went into the Red Star Belgrade youth academy at 8 and made his first team debut ten years later in his only appearance in the 2005-2006 season. The "Crveno-beli" (Red and Whites) won the league and cup double.
The following year he was sent on loan to Rad Belgrade in the second tier. He played 35 league games and scored 16 goals.
In 2007-08 he was back with "Zvezda" (Star) but in January, after 7 league games and 6 in Europe (3CL + 3 UC) with no goals, he joined Nantes in Ligue 2.
The "Maison Jaune" (The Yellow House) were promoted and Djordjevic played 19 games with 7 goals. The Bretons then definitely bought the Serb who made his Ligue 1 debut on August 9 and scored his first goal on November 29 versus Le Havre. He played 19 league games with 2 goals and 1 game in the Coupe de Ligue. "Les Canaris" however were relegated again.
He spent the next four seasons in Ligue 2 with 15th, 13th, 9th and finally 3rd with promotion. In these four seasons he played 117 league games with 40 goals plus 14 games in the domestic cups with 8 goals.
In 2013-14 back in Ligue 1 "Les Jaunes et Verts” finished 13th and reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France. He played 27 league games with 10 goals and 2 in the Coupe de Ligue with 2 goals.
In 2013-14 he made a surprise move to Lazio. The Biancocelesti, under Stefano Pioli, had an excellent year finishing 3rd (CL Preliminary) and runners up in the Coppa Italia (Juventus 1-2 after extra-time). Djordjevic played 24 league games with 8 goals (Palermo x3, Sassuolo, Fiorentina, Empoli, Sampdoria, Roma) and 3 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Varese). In January however he suffered a bad injury which kept him out of action until May. In the Coppa Italia final in May against Juventus, with the score blocked on 1-1 in extra time, Djordjevic hit an incredible double post with a long-range shot.
The following year was not as positive. Lazio were unsuccessful in their Champions League preliminary round (Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 on aggregate), lost the Italian Supercoppa (Juventus 0-2) and in the league finished 8th. In April Pioli was sacked and replaced by Simone Inzaghi. Djordjevic played 27 league games with 3 goals (Genoa, Frosinone, Sampdoria), 1 in Coppa Italia and 3 in the Europa League with 3 goals (Rosenborg x2, Dnipro).
In 2016-17 Simone Inzaghi stayed on, after Marcelo Bielsa had resigned after three days. Lazio had a better season and finished 5th (EL qualification). The Biancocelesti won a derby 3-1 and again reached the Coppa Italia final, defeating Roma in the semi-final, but lost to Juventus again 0-2. Djordjevic played 17 league games and 1 in the Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Genoa).
In 2017-18 he started the season with Lazio but made no appearances and was left out of the squad until his contract expired.
In 2018 therefore, he joined Chievo as a free agent. It was a bad season for the Clivensi who were relegated under three different managers, Lorenzo D'Anna (1-8), Gian Piero Ventura (9-12) and Domenico Di Carlo (13-38). Djordjevic played 13 league games with 1 goal (Fiorentina)and 1 game in Coppa Italia.
Over the next two seasons in Serie B the "Mussi Volanti" finished 6th and 8th, under Michele Marcolini (1-26) and Alfredo Aglietti (27-38 + playoffs) the first year and Aglietti the second. Djordjevic played 60 league games with 14 goals and 1 in the Coppa Italia.
He then retired at 33.
At international level he won 14 full Serbia caps with 4 goals (Chile, Wales, Russia, Ireland) and also played 14 games for the U21s with 8 goals.
Djordjevic was a classic centre-forward. He is 1.86 and 80 kilos, so physically strong. Despite his imposing size he was also surprisingly skilful and technical. This made him a good attacking partner to play off. In fact, his weakness as a striker, despite being nicknamed the Cobra, was his lack of killer instinct in front of goal.
At Lazio he was not a huge success but with two big question marks of what could have been. The first is what could have been in his first year when, after scoring 8 goals in 16 games (between the 5th and 20th fixture), he suffered a serious injury and was out for five months. The second is what could have been had his superb curling strike not hit both posts against Juventus but beaten Storari to almost certainly give Lazio a cup triumph and written his name more prominently in Lazio's history books. As it is under the letter D we can find a lot about Dabo, D'Amico, Di Canio, Di Vaio, Doll, amongst others but few references to Djordjevic.
Lazio Career
Sources
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