October 1, 2015: Lazio Saint Étienne 3-2, Europa League
- Dag Jenkins
- Oct 1
- 10 min read
Greens see red as Lazio win
Helped along the way by two French sendings off Lazio suffer but hold on to victory
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 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 four (Bologna 2-1, Udinese 2-0, Genoa 2-0 and Verona 2-1) but also been thrashed by Chievo 0-4 and Napoli 0-5. They had to find some consistency.
In the Europa League so far, they had obtained their only draw of the season, 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. This evening was Lazio's first home game in a group which included tonight's opposition Saint-Étienne and Rosenborg from Norway.
Saint-Étienne had finished 5th the previous year in Ligue 1. The Sainté Les Verts had reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France (PSG 1-4) and the quarter-finals of the Coupe de la Ligue. In the Europa League they had not passed the group stage but had drawn home and away against Inter. The manager was Christophe Galtier while top scorer was Max Gradel with 17 league goals.
This season Galtier had stayed on. The main new players were: defenders Benoît Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham), Kévin Malcuit (Niort) midfielder Vincent Pajot (Rennes), Valentin Eysseric (Nice - on loan) plus forwards Nolan Roux (Lille), Neal Maupay (Nice), Robert Berić (Rapid Vienna) and Jean-Christophe Bahebeck (PSG - on loan).
Leaving were: midfielder Allan Saint-Maximin (Monaco) plus forwards Mevlüt Erdinç (Hannover) and Max Gradel (Bournemouth).
In Ligue 1 Les Stéphnois had won 5, drawn 1 and lost 2 (including recent 1-4 at home to Nice). So not a bad start.
On their Europa League debut, they had drawn 2-2 at home to Rosenborg. To get to the group stage they had eliminated Tārgu Mureş (Romania) 4-2 and Milsami (Moldova) 2-1, both on aggregate.
An important game in Rome tonight between the two sides initially seen as the favourites in Group G.
The match: Thursday, October 1, 2015, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A small crowd of about 15,000 turned up for this awkward 7pm Thursday evening kick-off.
Lazio were missing defender Stefan de Vrij, midfielders Marco Parolo, Senad Lulic and Antonio Candreva plus forwards Miro Klose and Filip Djordjevic.
Saint-Étienne had defenders Florentin Pogba and Kévin Théophile-Catherine plus midfielder Jérémy Cement unavailable.
The French started off better than Lazio. The visitors went in front after only six minutes when Senegalese defender Moustapha Bayal Sall fortuitously made contact with a corner by Roumain Hamouma with the Lazio defenders passive bystanders, 0-1.
Lazio almost equalised immediately but Wesley Hoedt's header was well saved by Stéphane Ruffier.
The French went even closer to doubling their lead when Nolan Roux' lob from a difficult angle hit the crossbar.
In the 22nd minute Lazio drew level. Felipe Anderson went down the right and crossed, Stefano Mauri could not make contact but the ball fell to Eddy Onazi whose precise low strike found the net, 1-1.
Just after the half hour the "Les Verts" were down to ten men. In the 32nd minute Slovenian Robert Berić was judged to have elbowed Mauricio and was given his marching orders.
The visitors however were still dangerous with Hamouma but he was off target from a good position.
The last opportunity of the half was for Lazio when a clever Lucas Biglia found Mauri in the box but his half volley went over the bar. Half time 1-1.
For the second half the Biancocelest took off an injured Mauricio (broken nose) and put on Santiago Gentiletti.
In the 48th minute the Romans took the lead. On a Biglia freekick the French keeper mistimed his jump and Hoedt poked the ball home with his left foot, 2-1, the Dutchman's first goal for Lazio.
Lazio then tried to slow the game down and keep possession.
In the 63rd minute the visitors' coach Galtier changed two players bringing on Ismaël Diomandé and Jean-Christophe Bahebeck for Hamouma and Benjamin Corgnet.
Lazio responded a minute later replacing Mauri with striker Alessandro Matri.
The fresh French midfielder Bahebeck immediately had a chance but his left footed cross goal effort was blocked by Etrit Berisha.
In the 74th minute both sides made one more substitution: Danilo Cataldi for Onazi for the hosts and Kévin Monnet-Paquet for Roux for "Les Stéphanois".
In the 77th minute it looked like the end for Sainté as they were reduced to nine men. Sall committed a dirty foul on Felipe Anderson and received his second yellow of the evening.
In the 80th minute it definitely seemed like curtains for L'ASSE as Lazio scored again. A Biglia strike was deflected by Pierre-Yves Polomat to put the Roman Eagles 3-1 up.
The game however was not over and in the 84th minute Monnet-Paquet lobbed Berisha with a lovely finish, 3-2.
Against ten men but with only a single goal cushion Lazio did not deal with the situation well and towards the end Saint-Étienne almost equalised with a Vincent Pajot header. The referee, to Lazio's relief, blew up after only two minutes of additional time. Final score Lazio 3 Saint -Étienne 2.
A good European win for Lazio albeit with too much suffering first against ten men and then especially nine men.
Lazio now had 4 points and topped the group with Dnipro who had beaten Rosenborg in Norway. Next up for Lazio were the home and away clashes with the side from Trondheim.
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Basta, Mauricio (46' Gentiletti), Hoedt, Radu, Onazi (74' Cataldi), Biglia, Felipe Anderson, Milinkovic-Savic, Keita, Mauri (64' Matri)
Manager: Pioli
Who played for Saint Étienne
Ruffier, Clerc, Sall, Perrin, Polomat, Lamoine, Pajot, Roux (74' Monnet-Paquet), Corgnet (63' Diomandé), Hamouma (63' Bahebeck), Beric
Substitutes: Moulin, Eysseric, Maupay, Malcuit
Manager: Galtier
Referee: Özkahya (Turkey)
Goals: 6' Sall, 22' Onazi, 48' Hoedt, 80' Biglia, 84' Monnet-Paquet
Red Cards: 32' Beric, 77' Sall
What happened next
In Serie A Lazio won their next game 2-0 at home against Frosinone, but then slumped again losing three out of the next four, including the derby. Lazio were inconsistent all season and on April 3 after a heavy 1-4 derby defeat Pioli was sacked and replaced by Simone Inzaghi. With "Simoncino", Lazio then won four and lost three and ended up 8th.
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 group stage they qualified, beating Rosenborg (3-1, 2-0), 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.
Saint-Étienne too finished 8th in Ligue 1. In Europa League they finished 2nd behind Lazio and got through to the next round. After tonight the Loire boys in green won 2 (Dnipro 1-0 and 3-0) and drew 2 (Rosenborg and Lazio both 1-1). In the Round of 32 they were eliminated by Basel on away goals (3-2, 1-2).
In the Coupe de France they went out in the quarter-finals (PSG 1-3 at home) and in the Coupe de la Ligue in the Round of 16 (PSG again, 0-1 away). Top scorer was Nolan Roux with 11 goals (9 in Ligue 1).
Two of the French players would later play in Italy: Valentin Eysseric (Fiorentina 2017-2021, Verona 2020 on loan) and Kévin Macuit (Napoli 2018-22, Fiorentina 2021 on loan) while Neal Maupay would do well in England (Brentford, Brighton, Everton and Brentford again)
Serie A was won by Juventus, Ligue 1 by PSG and the Europa League by Sevilla (Liverpool 3-1).
Let's talk about Ogenyi Onazi
Ogenyi Edmir Onazi was born on December 25, 1992, in Jos, Nigeria. He is known as Eddy.
He started playing football in his homeland for El-Kanemi Warriors, My People, Bodens BK and then My People again.
In 2009 Lazio took an interest in him when watching him play in the U19 World Cup. Nigeria were losing finalists to Switzerland and Onazi had a good tournament.
Lazio brought him to Rome in January 2011. At first, he played for the "Primavera" (U19s) but then was added to Edy Reja's first team squad. He made his debut in the penultimate game of the season against Atalanta, playing the last five minutes in place of Senad Lulic. Lazio came 4th and won both derbies.
In 2012-13 Vladimir Petkovic became Lazio manager. On September 20 Onazi got his first start in a Europa League game against Tottenham. His first goals came on March 7 in Europe against Stuttgart and on May 8 in Serie A against Inter (a cracking shot from 31 metres). In his first full season he made 15 league appearances with 1 goal, 2 in Coppa Italia and 11 in UEL with 1 goal. Lazio finished 7th but won the derbies of all derbies, winning the Coppa Italia on May 26, 2013. Onazi was one of the heroes playing 92 minutes.
The following season, first under Petkovic and then Reja again, Onazi had possibly his best season playing 29 league games with 1 goal (Napoli), 2 in Coppa Italia, 8 In UEL with 1 goal (Trabzonspor) plus the Italian Supercoppa final. Lazio finished 9th and lost the final to Juventus 4-0.
In 2014-15 Stefano Pioli arrived as manager. Lazio had an excellent season finishing 3rd. Onazi played 16 league games with 1 goal (Napoli) and 3 games in Coppa Italia. His goal in Napoli in the last game of the season was decisive for Lazio's Champions League preliminary qualification. Lazio also reached the Coppa Italia final but lost 2-1 to Juventus in extra-time.
In 2015-16 Pioli started but was later replaced by Simone Inzaghi. Onazi played 15 league games with 1 goal (Empoli), 2 in Champions League, 4 in UEL plus the Super Coppa final. Lazio finished 8th and lost the SC final against Juventus, again, 2-0.
In 2016 Eddy left Lazio. He joined Trabzonspor in Turkey. He played three and a half seasons for the "Karadeniz Firtinasi" (Black Sea Storm). He played a total of 79 games (69 in league) and scored 5 goals (4 in league).
In January 2020 he stayed in Turkey but joined Denizlispor in the SüperLig. Onazi did not last long in South-West Turkey and left after only 10 appearances (9 SL and 1 in Cup).
In July 2020 he moved to Denmark and joined SønderjyskE (Haderslev) in the Danish Super league. Here in central Denmark he stayed even less and left in February after playing 3 games (2 in SL and 1 in Cup).
In 2021 he moved to Lithuania and joined Zalgiris Vilnius. Here he played more regularly, 28 games (19 in A, 2 in Cup, 6 in CL, 1 in Supercup) and scored 2 league goals plus 1 in the CL. The “Žaliai Balti” (The Green Whites) won the Lithuanian league.
In 2022 Onazi returned to Italy and joined Casertana in Serie D. In Campania he played 8 league games.
In 2023 he joined East Riffa in Bahrain and then Kitchee in Hong Kong.
In 2023-24 he returned to Italy and played for Avezzano in Serie D while in 2025 he joined Charlotte Independence in the third tier of football in the USA.
At international level Onazi earned an impressive 53 caps for Nigeria with 1 goal (Venezuela). He played in the 2014 World Cup, reaching the last 16, and won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013.
Onazi is a central midfielder. He is not particularly tall at 1,73 metres but is extremely dynamic. He is good at pressing and breaking opposition play. He is also capable of sudden attacking excursions using his speed and athleticism to throw himself into space (well sort of) which is an ability he could have used more in his career.
At Lazio he played a total of 110 games with 7 goals. He is remembered with affection by the fans, for the vital goal in Naples and his legacy is immortal for playing the winning 2013 derby cup final. He will forever be one of the heroes who lifted the Coppa Italia "in faccia" (in the face) of their eternal rivals on May 26, 2013. "Onazi l'unico nazi che ci piace" forever.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2011-12 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
2012-13 | 28 (2) | 15 (1) | 2 | - | 11 (1) | - |
2013-14 | 40 (2) | 29 (1) | 2 | - | 8 (1) | 1 |
2014-15 | 19 (1) | 16 (1) | 3 | - | - | - |
2015-16 | 22 (2) | 15 (1) | - | 2 | 4 (1) | 1 |
Total | 110 (7) | 76 (4) | 7 | 2 | 23 (3) | 2 |
Sources
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