September 29, 2014: Palermo-Lazio 0-4

Dag Jenkins
Sep 29
13 min read

Djordjevic comes good in Sicily

A hat-trick by the Serb helps Lazio to big win in Palermo

Also on this day:

September 29, 1985: Lazio Arezzo 2-0. A goal per half, by Garlini and Magnocavallo, dispatch Arezzo in a convincing performance.
September 29, 1963: Lazio Genoa 1-0. Mari scores winner fifteen minutes from time and the Biancocelesti are now joint league leaders.

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had finished a poor 9th. They had replaced manager Vladimir Petkovic with Edy Reja after 16 matches, so the honeymoon with the Swiss was over but not his legacy (2013 Coppa Italia triumph).

This season Lazio had a new manager in Stefano Pioli. There had also been several changes to the squad, some major, some minor. The biggest buy for Lazio was Dutch central defender Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord) who had impressed at the recent 2014 World Cup. Other good signings were defender Dušan Basta (Udinese) and midfielder Marco Parolo (Parma). Another new face was Serbian striker Filip Djordjevic (Nantes- end of contract) while local lad Danilo Cataldi was back from a loan period (Crotone).

Sadly, some players left, in particular Giuseppe Biava (end of contract) and André Dias (retired). Other minor movements were mainly in attack: Emiliano Alfaro (Liverpool Montevideo- loan), Brayan Perea (Perugia- loan/ he would return in January) and Hélder Postiga (Valencia-end of loan).

So far in Serie A things were not going too well. Lazio had played four, won 1 (Cesena 3-0 at home) and lost three (Milan 1-3 away on debut, Genoa 0-1 away and most recently Udinese 0-1 at home). Lazio were 15th, on 3 points (with Chievo, Sassuolo and Palermo).

In Coppa Italia Lazio had played the 3rd round (first for them) in August and beaten Virtus Bassano (3rd tier) 7-0 and would play Varese next in December.

Palermo were newly promoted after only one season in the "purgatory". The previous season the Rosanero had won Serie B, first under Gennaro Gattuso until September 25 and then Giuseppe Iachini. Top scorer was Abel Hernández with 14 league goals.

This season Iachini was still in charge. The new signings to face the top flight were: defenders Emerson Palmieri (Santos - on loan), Zouhair Feddal (Parma - on loan with clause to buy but he would go back in January), Giancarlo González (Columbus Crew, USA), midfielders Ivajlo Čočev (CSKA Sofia), Luca Rigoni (Chievo) and Robin Quaison (AIK, Sweden).

Leaving Sicily were: midfielders Armin Bačinović (Virtus Lanciano), Davide Di Gennaro (Vicenza - on loan), Alen Stevanović (Torino - end of loan then Bari), Gennaro Troianiello (Bologna - on loan), Valerio Verre (Roma - end of loan then Perugia) plus forwards Abel Hernández (Hull City, in Premier League) and Kyle Lafferty (Norwich City, in Championship).

So far in Serie A the Palermitani had won drawn 3 (Sampdoria 1-1 at home on debut, Inter 1-1 at home and most recently Napoli 3-3 away) and lost 1 (Verona 1-2 away). Palermo too were 15th, on 3 points.

In the Coppa Italia they had already been eliminated in August losing 0-3 at home to second tier Modena.

A game tonight between two sides in difficulty especially Lazio but, knowing the Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini, there was already talk of Iachini's job being at risk too.

The match: Monday, September 29, Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo

Just under 20,000 turned up on a warm Monday night under the Monte Pellegrino.

Palermo had defender Giancarlo González and midfielder Enzo Maresca missing.

Lazio had a few absences, attacking full-back Dušan Basta, defender Stefan Radu plus midfielders Lucas Biglia and Danilo Cataldi.

The two head coaches, Giuseppe Iachini and Stefano Pioli knew each other well, having played together for Verona and Fiorentina.

Palermo played in their unique pink jerseys while Lazio wore white with thin vertical light blue stripes.

The first half was a pretty blocked affair. For Palermo Andrea Belotti was too isolated up front and for Lazio Antonio Candreva was the only one who took some initiatives with some interesting crosses.

Lazio had the first shot at goal but Edson Braafheid's long range left footed effort was saved low by Stefano Sorrentino.

Palermo had an early chance with the talented Paulo Dybala but his shot was just wide. The Argentine then had an even bigger one but in front of Federico Marchetti he shot straight at the keeper. The game then went quiet although Palermo showed more attacking desire.

The game however came alive at the end of the half. The Rosaneri wasted two opportunities, first with a brilliant Franco Vásquez solo run but his shot was just out and then Dybala was denied by Marchetti. Then in the last minute Lazio scored. A Senad Lulic-Candreva combination led the Roman to cross low into the area where both Marco Parolo and goalkeeper Sorrentino missed the ball which fell to Filip Djordjevic for the simplest of tap-ins, 0-1. Slightly against the run of play although Lazio then had a threatening Stefano Mauri shot saved a few seconds before the break, Palermo 0 Lazio 1.

For the second half Iachini pushed Dybala further forward to play alongside Belotti rather than behind him. In the 56th minute he also threw on Emerson Palmieri for Achraf Lazaar but the hosts had difficulty creating threats. For Lazio, Felipe Anderson replaced Candreva in the 58th minute.

For Palermo Dybala was again the most dangerous but his powerful strike was punched away by Marchetti. The Sicilians best chance came in the 67th minute when Zouhair Feddal's diving header, from another headed assist by Barreto from a Dybala cross, was just off target.

Palermo tired and Lazio were increasingly dangerous on the break. In the 71st minute Sorrentino saved twice from a Djordjevic backheel and then Parolo on the rebound in the same move but capitulated four minutes later.

In the 75th minute Lulic fed the Serb striker who skipped past Claudio Terzi and placed an accurate curling left foot inside the far post, 0-2.

Palermo were finished and even took off Dybala and put on Simon Marienok. Lazio meanwhile reinforced their aerial defence replacing Braafheid with Michaël Ciani.

Lazio absorbed Palermo's sterile attacks but just to be sure in the 82nd minute threw on a more holding midfielder Cristian Ledesma for the more creative Stefano Mauri. The Pink Eagles at the same moment took off Édgar Barreto and tried Robin Quaison.

A minute later Lazio definitely closed the eagle contest. The ball went over the hosts' defence to Djordjevic on the left, he let it bounce and then blasted it across goal to put Lazio three goals clear, 0-3.

Palermo were on their knees and in injury time Lazio scored again. In the 93rd minute Ledesma swung in a free kick from the right and Marco Parolo a little fortuitously brought it down and found it at his feet before striking it low near the far post, 0-4 and final score.

A flattering score line for Lazio who had been second best for long periods of the game. A fact confirmed by the home fans applauding their players off the pitch.

Football however is all about scoring and if you score four unanswered goals away from home without any controversial episodes there is not much more to be said.

From the risk of being bottom of the table with a defeat, Lazio were now mid-table on 6 points (with Fiorentina). Palermo on the other hand were still on 3 points and only out of the bottom three on goal difference but had not played badly and could be reasonably optimistic not be involved in the relegation battle.

Who played for Palermo

Sorrentino, Andelkovic, Terzi, Feddal, Morganella, Barreto (82' Quaison), Rigoni, Lazaar (56' Emerson), Vásquez, Dybala (76' Makienok), Belotti

Substitutes: Ujkani, Vitiello, Pisano, Silva, Bolzoni, Ngoyi, Čočev, Bamba, Daprelà

Manager: Iachini

Who played for Lazio

Marchetti, Cavanda, de Vrij, Cana, Braafheid (77' Ciani), Onazi, Parolo, Candreva (58' F.Anderson), Mauri (82' Ledesma), Lulic, Djordjevic

Substitutes: Berisha, Strakosha, Ederson, Klose, Konko, Keita, Pereirinha

Manager: Pioli

Referee: Di Bello

Goals: 45' Djordjevic, 75' Djordjevic, 83' Djordjevic, 93' Parolo

What happened next

Lazio went on to have an excellent season. They finished 3rd and earned themselves a Champions League preliminary round. The Biancocelesti then won 19, drew 6 and lost 8. At one stage, between February 9 and April 12, they won nine games in a row. They finally clinched 3rd place with an epic 4-2 away win in Naples on the last day of the season. Top scorer was Miroslav Klose with 16 (13 in league).

In the Coppa Italia, Lazio then saw off Varese 3-0 at home, Torino 3-1 away, Milan 1-0 away and Napoli 2-1 on aggregate and reached the final. On May 20 in Rome they were unlucky 1-2 losers to Juventus in extra-time. In the added 30 minutes with the score still 1-1 Djordjevic hit an incredible double post with a long-range curling shot.

Palermo finished 11th. The Rosanero then won 12 (including Milan 2-0 and Roma 1-2 away, Cagliari 5-0 and Napoli 3-1 at home), drew 10 and lost 11 (including Lazio 1-2 in Rome). Top scorer was Paulo Dybala with 13 league goals.

The Scudetto was won by Juventus for the 31st time (4th consecutive), so the Bianconeri won the double, while at the opposite end Serie A lost Cagliari, Parma and Cesena.

Let's talk about Stefano Pioli

Stefano Pioli was Lazio manager in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. In his first year Lazio came third but in his second he was sacked towards the end.

Pioli is a manager who usually uses a 4-3-1-2 formation but he has also used the 3-5-2 and at Lazio he preferred the 4-3-3.

Player career

Pioli was born in Parma on October 20, 1965. He started his football career in the Parma youth teams and debuted in Serie C1 in 1982. In his second year he won the Serie C1 Championship. After two seasons he signed for Juventus. One may think that this was strange but Pioli was considered a very promising defender and the Bianconeri were always on the lookout for young talent.

In Turin he played for three years winning the scudetto in 1985-86, the European Cup in 1985 as well as the Intercontinental Cup that same year, plus the UEFA Super Cup in 1984 (in which he did not play). In three years, he played a total of 62 games (one goal) but was always considered a reserve. He did not really fulfil expectations.

In 1987-88 he joined Verona. He played very little in his first year (just 14 games) but decisively more in his second (42). In 1989 he signed for Fiorentina and stayed for six seasons playing a UEFA Cup final in 1990 and winning the Serie B championship in 1993-94. He appeared in 189 games (with one goal).

In 1995 he signed for Padova but appeared in just four games in 18 months. His last years of football were with Pistoiese and Fiorenzuola in Serie C1 and Colorno (sixth tier)

Pioli played five times for Italy Under 21s.

Manager

He began his managerial career with the youth teams of Bologna and Chievo. His first job with the big boys came at Salerno in 2003 in Serie B. He led Salernitana to a comfortable safety. For the 2004-05 season he was head coach at Modena missing out on the play offs for Serie A by just one point. In the next season he was fired but then, after just three games, regained his place on the bench and Modena obtained 5^th place. They were then knocked out in the semi-final of the playoffs by Mantova.

In June 2006 he signed for Parma in Serie A but was fired in February 2007. The following year he managed Grosseto in Serie B. After a bad start, the Tuscan team achieved 13^th place. He became manager of Piacenza in 2008 in Serie B and the team came 10^th.

The next season he managed Sassuolo in Serie B. He reached the semi-final of the playoffs but lost to Torino. In 2010-11 he was on the bench for Chievo Verona in Serie A. It was a very good year for the Verona team as they finished 11^th and had the 4^th best defence.

His next job was at Palermo, but he only lasted a couple of months. In October 2011 he became manager of Bologna replacing Pierpaolo Bisoli. Bologna came ninth that season and 13^th the next. He was sacked in January 2014.

Lazio 2014-2016

In 2014 he became manager of Lazio. It was a surprise decision on behalf of Claudio Lotito since Pioli did not have a particularly great CV. Fans were very critical at first, but Lazio did not do too badly and at the end of the first half of the season they were 5^th on 31 points, just two points away from third place (which would allow a play off for participation in the Champions League) but way off Roma (41) and Juventus (46).

Eight consecutive wins between mid-February and mid-April allowed Lazio to overtake Roma who, however, with two games to go had a one-point lead. In the last but one game Lazio faced Roma and lost, thus missing out on direct qualification for the Champions League. Earlier in the week they had lost the final of the Coppa Italia to Juventus 2-1 not without some regrets due to the fact that in extra time Filip Djordjevic hit the woodwork twice with one shot.

In the last game of the season Lazio faced Napoli in Naples. All the Biancocelesti needed to secure third place was a draw. At the end of the first half Lazio were winning 2-0, but in the second, Napoli equalised and were then awarded a controversial penalty. Gonzalo Huguain missed it, and towards the end Lazio scored with Eddy Onazi and Miro Klose to clinch the match and third place.

There were big celebrations. Lazio had played very well all year and possibly deserved even more than third place, but controversial refereeing decisions, especially in Lazio-Inter 1-2, plus exhaustion towards the end did not allow it to happen.

There was however great optimism for 2015-16. The first game of the season was played in August. The Supercoppa against Juventus in Shanghai. No contest and Lazio were beaten 2-0 on an appalling pitch. Lazio’s fitness levels were terrible but the focus was on the Champions League playoff against Bayer Leverkusen.

In a packed Olimpico, Lazio played really well in the first leg and won 1-0. They could/should have scored more but some players were still a bit behind physically. Another problem was that Miroslav Klose got injured in the first half and at that time Lazio did not have a centre forward who could replace him (Alessandro Matri would arrive later). The return match was a defensive nightmare. Pioli decided to “experiment” a 3-4-3 formation instead of the classic 4-4-2. As a consequence, Lazio lost 0-3 so they were relegated to Europa League.

One could see immediately that they were having problems and not playing as well as the previous year. Narrow wins and heavy defeats (4-0 against Chievo, 5-0 against Napoli), players who were not performing as well as the previous year (Felipe Anderson for example) or other fundamental pieces that Lazio lost through injury (Stefan de Vrij) all led to a disappointing season. At the halfway point Lazio were 9^th, very far off from a possible European Cup qualification.

Things went relatively well in the Europa League where Lazio went through to the second round after winning their group against Dnipro, Saint Etienne and Rosenborg. They beat Galatasaray in the round of 32 and faced Sparta Prague in the round of 16. After drawing away 1-1, the Biancocelesti collapsed 0-3 at home and were eliminated. In Coppa Italia after beating Udinese, they lost to Juventus in the quarter-finals.

In April, after losing the derby 1-4, Pioli was sacked and replaced by Simone Inzaghi.

All the positive things of Pioli’s first season were dissolved in the second year. “I did not manage that second year very well”, he said in an interview with Milan TV in 2019.

After Lazio

Inter have a history of picking Lazio players and managers so it was not a surprise that Stefano Pioli signed for them in November 2016 after Frank de Boer was sacked. Under Pioli the team won 9 consecutive games between campionato and cup competitions, but then lost to Lazio in Coppa Italia and things started to go downhill. He was sacked on May 9.

In June 2017 he signed for Fiorentina. In his first year he achieved 8^th place but in his second he resigned in April leaving the Viola in 10^th place.

Milan

Among great scepticism and surprise, on October 9 2019 he became manager at AC Milan in place of Marco Giampaolo. A very difficult start for Pioli but in January the club signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Simon Kjaer and things started going well. By the end of the season they managed to obtain a 6^th place and qualify for Europa League.

At the end of the first half of the 2020-21 season Milan were leaders in Serie A. But in the second half Milan could not keep up with the pace set by Inter who won 11 consecutive games and overtook their city rivals. The Rossoneri however finished runners up place and qualified for the Champions League for the first time in seven years.

It was in this season that one could see Milan's potential. After considerable financial difficulties, they had focused on signing young promising players and the gamble had paid off. Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez had become two of the best players in Europe and Ibra's hunger to win had done the rest.

There was great justified optimism for the 2021-22 season. It was a triumph. Milan won the scudetto with the highest number of points in their history (86), had the best defence, together with Napoli, and with an average age of 26 years and 93 days, they were the youngest team ever to win the campionato. Pioli won the “panchina d’oro” as best manager of the year. A triumph for the former Lazio head coach.

In the 2022-23 season Milan were one of the favourites for the final victory seeing what they had done the previous year. Napoli were unstoppable all year but Milan were doing fairly well closing in second place before the pause for the World Cup. In January however they collapsed. Two draws and two heavy defeats (0-4 against Lazio and 2-5 against Sassuolo) plus one in the derby. They did then pick up and even went on to win 4-0 away in Naples but in the Campionato they never really recovered the form of the previous 18 months. They finished fourth and would have been out of the Champions League had Juventus not been docked 10 points for financial irregularities.

Things went decisively better in the Champions League. Milan came second in their group, then eliminated Tottenham and Napoli and reached the semi-final where they had to face Inter. But they missed out on the final losing both derbies.

In 2023-24 Milan finished second again this time behind Inter. By mutual consent Pioli and Milan then decided to part ways.

Al-Nassr

In September 2024 he went for the Saudi experience and joined Al-Nassr, taking over from Luís Castro. His squad included Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mané, Marcelo Brozović and Jhon Durán and the "Faris Najd" (Knights of Najd) finished 3rd.