September 15, 2013: Lazio -Chievo 3-0
Clinical Lazio sink bête noire
With 3 first half goals Lazio beat Chievo at home for the first time in ten years
The season so far
The previous season Lazio finished 7th but had experienced the wild joy of winning the Coppa Italia beating city rivals Roma in the final.
The cup lifting manager had been confirmed but there had been some changes to the squad. The main arrivals in the summer were Albanian goalkeeper Etrit Berisha (Kalmar), young Brazilian attacking midfielder Felipe Anderson (Santos) and Argentine midfielder Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht).
There were more players leaving than arriving. It was goodbye to; goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri (Genoa), defender Modibo Diakité (Sunderland), midfielders Pasquale Foggia (Dubai Club), Danilo Cataldi (Crotone-loan), strikers Libor Kozak (Aston Villa) and Mauro Zarate, this time definitely (Vélez Sarsfield-end of contract ).
This season under Vladimir Petkovic had not started so positively and Lazio lost the Supercoppa final 4-0 against a vastly superior Juventus.
In Serie A Lazio had played two games. They started well beating Udinese 2-1 at home but then got thumped again by Juventus 1-4 away.
Time to get back on track.
Chievo had finished 11th the previous season. The manager was first Domenico Di Carlo (1-5, all defeats) and then Eugenio Corini (6-38). In the end the Clivensi won 12 (including Roma 1-0 both home and away and Lazio 1-0 away), drew 9 and lost 18 (including Lazio 1-3 at home). The top scorer was Cyril Théréau with 13 goals (11 in A).
This season the manager was Giuseppe Sannino. The main new arrivals were: defenders Alessandro Bernardini (Livorno-on loan), and Claiton (Bari), midfielders Dejan Lazarević (Genoa), Tiberio Guarente (Catania- on loan from Sevilla) and Ivan Radovanović (Atalanta).
In January they would add; goalkeeper Michael Agazzi (Cagliari), defenders Michele Canini (Atalanta) and Matteo Rubin (Verona), midfielder Leandro Paredes (Boca Juniors) plus forwards Victor Obinna (Lokomotiv Moscow) and Adrian Stoian (Genoa),
Leaving were; defenders Marco Andreolli (Inter), Bojan Jokić (Villarreal) and Francesco Acerbi (Sassuolo), midfielders Felipe Seymour (Spezia), Luciano (Mantova), Isaac Cofie (Genoa), Kamil Vacek (Sparta Prague) plus forward Caleb Ekuban (from youth team to Südtirol).
In January they would also say goodbye to; defender Paul Papp (Astra Giurgiu), midfielders Alessio Sestu (Sampdoria-on loan), Marcelo Estigarribia (Atalanta) and Maxwell Acosty (Carpi) plus forwards Matteo Ardemagni (Carpi) and Riccardo Improta (Padova).
So far Chievo had drawn 0-0 at Parma and lost 2-4 at home to Napoli.
On paper not a hugely difficult game for Lazio but that was not taking into account the fact that Chievo were one of Lazio's bêtes noires at the Olimpico. In 11 home league games the Biancocelesti had won 1 (2003), drawn 6 and lost 4. A shocking record.
The match: Sunday, September 15, 2013, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
An overcast day with previous rain brought about 30,000 spectators to the Olimpico.
The Curva Nord remained empty for the first 15 minutes in protest against the club's lack of ambition on the transfer market.
Lazio were without injured defender Stefan Radu, injured midfielder Lucas Biglia, suspended midfielder Hernanes (yellow card accumulation) and Stefano Mauri (for betting scandal).
Chievo were missing defender Dario Dainelli and midfielder Simone Bentivoglio.
The game began perfectly for Lazio who inside ten minutes were already ahead. In the 8th minute Ederson set up Antonio Candreva who surged forward on the right and once in the area hit a low shot which with a slight deflection off Boštjan Cesar and went in to Christian Puggioni's left, 1-0.
In the 15th minute Lazio suffered an injury to Giuseppe Biava who was replaced by Michaël Ciani.
Chievo reacted and had a lot of possession but few chances. The main one came in the 35th minute when following a lapse in concentration by Lazio's Luis Pedro Cavanda they had a low central shot by Alberto Paloschi from just outside the area, Federico Marchetti parried and then Cyril Théréau fired the rebound over the bar.
Cavanda was clearly in difficulty on the left so he was switched to the right with Abdoulay Konko going to the left.
In the 39th minute, after a prolonged move, Cristian Ledesma crossed long into the area from the left, the ball went over the entire defence and reached the far right post where Cavanda lunged forward and slid the ball in, 2-0. A timely switch of flanks for the Angolan-born Congolese-Belgian who scored the first goal of his career.
Three minutes later Ogenyi Onazi with a clever touch played Senad Lulic through in space on the left, the May 26 hero ran forward between two defenders and beat Puggioni coming off his line with a low finish which went under the keeper, 3-0.
Three shots and three goals for Lazio while Chievo had 9 corners to none but had rarely threatened.
In the second half Chievo played with former Juventus Marcelo Estigarribia instead of Alessio Sestu. Lazio sat back and controlled while Chievo tried to reopen the game.
They went close with a Paloschi backheel in front of goal but the ball trickled just wide of the right post.
In the 59th minute the visitors threw on forward Sergio Pellissier in place of midfielder Ivan Radovanovic.
It was Lazio however who went closer to scoring again as in the 63rd minute Candreva hit the crossbar with an audacious lob and then in the 69th a Miro Klose header was saved well by Puggioni.
In the 70th minute Boadu Maxwell Acosty was brought on in Théréau's place.
In the 78th minute Álvaro González replaced Ederson in midfield.
Towards the end Marchetti denied the Clivensi even a consolation goal as he superbly kept out a Paloschi close range header.
There was only time for Keita Balde to come on for Cavanda in the 89th minute before Calvarese blew for full time, 3-0.
The first half had been reasonably balanced but Lazio had scored three goals. The second half had little to say as the result was no longer in doubt.
Next up for Lazio was the derby.
Who played for Lazio
Marchetti, Konko, Biava (15' Ciani), Cana, Cavanda (89' Keita), Candreva, Onazi, Ledesma, Lulic, Ederson (78' A.Gonzalez), Klose
Manager: Petkovic
Who played for Chievo
Puggioni, Sardo, Papp, Cesar, Dramè, Hetemaj, Radovanovic (59' Pellissier), Rigoni, Sestu (46' Estigarribia), Théréau (70' Acosty), Paloschi
Substitutes: Silvestri, Lazarevic, Calello, Pamic, Frey, Ardemagni
Manager: Sannino
Referee: Calvarese
Goals: 8' Candreva, 39' Cavanda, 42' Lulic
What happened next
Lazio lost the derby 0-2 and did not have a great season. Vladimir Petković, despite the May 26 heroics, was sacked in December before the Christmas break after a heavy 1-4 defeat away to Verona. He had already agreed terms to coach the Swiss national team from July which did not help things.
Edy Reja took over and Lazio improved, finishing 9th, beating Inter and drawing with Roma, Juve and Milan. The top scorer was Antonio Candreva with 12 league goals.
In the Europa League Lazio got through the Group stage, coming second in a group topped by Trabzonspor but ahead of Legia Warsaw and Apollon Limassol. In the Round of 32 however the Biancocelesti were eliminated 3-4 on aggregate by Bulgarians Ludogorets to an 88th minute Juninho Quixadá goal.
In the Coppa Italia Lazio beat Parma 2-1 at home in January but went out in the quarter-finals losing 0-1 away to Napoli, with a late Higuain winner.
A disappointing post 2013 derby triumph season for Lazio.
Chievo finished 16th (+4 on the B zone). From the 13th fixture onwards Eugenio Corino returned as manager. Chievo only had 7 points at that stage but things improved with three consecutive wins. In the end the Gialloblu finished with 10 wins (including Verona 1-0 and Inter 2-1), 6 draws (including Inter 1-1 away) and 22 defeats (including Lazio 0-2 at home and second derby 0-1). The top scorer was Alberto Paloschi with 15 goals (13 in A).
In the Coppa Italia they eliminated Empoli 2-0 and Reggina 4-1 at home but in the last 16 lost 0-2 away to Fiorentina.
In 2021 Chievo went bust. Former player Sergio Pellissier then founded Football Club Clivense and re-started at regional amateur level. In 2024 they regained the name Chievo. They are now in Serie D.
The 2013-14 Scudetto was won by Juventus (30th title), the Coppa Italia by Napoli (5th time) while Catania, Bologna and Livorno went down to Serie B. Livorno and Catania have never been back in A since and are both in Serie C.
Lazio Jersey 2013-14
Image Sources: Football Kit Archive except Silvio Piola Anniversary Goalkeeper Jersey (SS Lazio Museum)
The technical sponsor was still Macron. There was no technical sponsor.
The shirt was classic light blue with a white " Y" collar. The Coppa Italia badge was just above the macron lettering on the right while the classic club eagle symbol was on the left. There was white down the sides of the shirt and at the end of the sleeves. The shorts were white while the socks were white with a light blue stripe at the top and down the sides.
The away shirt was yellow with black instead of the white on the collar, sides and sleeves. The shorts were black while the socks were yellow with black stripes on the upper part.
The third shirt was dark blue with thin light blue horizontal stripes The "Y" collar was also light blue.
The goalkeeper shirt was either grey or sky blue but there was also a pink one.
On September 29, in the home game against Fiorentina, the Biancocelesti wore a special shirt to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Silvio Piola's birth. The shirt was the same as that of 1913, light blue with a white round neck. The shorts white and the socks black.
A symbolic number of 913 were put on sale. Piola's signature was printed on the left sleeve with the number 290 (his Serie A goals).
Sources
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