Top 30 Winning Upsets (1980-2026) - Part Three
- Dag Jenkins
- 18 hours ago
- 3 min read
More games between 1997 and 2005 in which Lazio upset the odds to clinch surprise victories.
Lazio played Roma in the derby on November 1, 1997. Roma were 4th on 12 points and Lazio were 9th on 8 points. In the last derby Lazio had denied the Giallorossi the victory by equalising in injury time with Igor Protti despite being in ten men for the last 15 minutes for a Beppe Favalli red card.
The two teams were evenly matched but what made this game memorable was that Lazio again played with ten men but this time from the 7th minute onwards and again for Favalli being sent off.
Against all odds Lazio triumphed 3-1 with goals by Roberto Mancini, Gigi Casiraghi and Pavel Nedved while Marco Del Vecchio got a late consolation goal for Roma.
A win no-one would have expected when Pierluigi Collina sent Beppe Favalli off so early.
Lazio played Inter on February 22, 1998. Inter were 2nd in the table and challenging for the Scudetto. Lazio were 3rd only three points behind. The surprise therefore was more the score than the actual result.
Inter's manager was former Lazio Gigi Simoni. The Nerazzurri had some quality players: Gianluca Pagliuca, Beppe Bergomi, Javier Zanetti, Youri Djorkaeff, Diego Simeone, Paulo Sousa, Benoit Cauet, Francesco Moriero, Aron Winter, Ivan Zamorano, Nwankwo Kanu, Alvaro Recoba and Ronaldo.
Lazio won 3-0 with goals by Diego Fuser, Alen Boksic and Gigi Casiraghi.
Inter would go close to the Scudetto but lost the direct clash to Juventus 0-1 away, on April 26, when only a point behind in a game marred with refereeing controversy.
They would get their revenge on Lazio, on May 6 in Paris, by winning 3-0 to lift the UEFA Cup.
This sunny late February afternoon however was Lazio's.
Lazio played Juventus on March 18, 2001. The previous year Lazio had overtaken Juventus on the last day of season to win the Scudetto. Today was the Bianconeri's chance for revenge.
Juventus were 2nd, on 48 points (-6 from Roma) while Lazio were 3rd, on 43 points. Lazio's Scudetto winning manager Sven-Goran Eriksson had left in January and Dino Zoff had taken over. Lazio had improved but came from a bad 0-2 defeat at Bologna while Juve came from five consecutive wins.
The Bianconeri had Carlo Ancelotti as manager and players such as Edwin van der Sar, Gianluca Zambrotta, Paolo Montero, Antonio Conte, Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids, Filippo Inzaghi, David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero.
Lazio won 4-1 with braces by Hernan Crespo and Pavel Nedved while Del Piero had pulled one back on 2-0.
Lazio may have been reigning champions but few would have predicted a 4-1 trouncing.
Lazio played Juventus on November 24, 2001. Juventus were 3rd on 19 points. Lazio were 9th on 14 points and had replaced Dino Zoff after only the third league fixture.
Juventus ' manager was Marcello Lippi and they had players such as Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, Antonio Conte, Edgar Davids, Pavel Nedved, David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero.
Lazio won 1-0 with a brilliant long-range lob by Fabio Liverani.
Juventus went on to win the Scudetto.
Lazio and Roma played out the Roman derby on January 6, 2005. Roma had finished 2nd the previous season and were currently 7th, fighting for European slots. Lazio were joint 15th and only four points from relegation.
This was new Lazio owner Claudio Lotito' first year in charge. It was a time of austerity. Gone were the Sergio Cragnotti stars and in came new players many unknown. Fortunately, some were good such as Tommaso Rocchi and veteran Paolo Di Canio returning to his boyhood club.
Lazio however were struggling. They had started with Mimmo Caso as manager but he had been sacked before the Christmas break after a 0-3 defeat at Udine. This evening was new manager Giuseppe Papadopulo's debut. It was not an easy start against Roma and without half their defence (both Sebastiano Siviglia and Fernando Couto were missing)
Roma had Gigi Del Neri as manager and players such as Christian Panucci, Philippe Mexes, Christian Chivu, Daniele De Rossi, Mancini, Olivier Dacourt, Vincenzo Montella and Francesco Totti.
Lazio won 3-1 with goals by Paolo Di Canio (16 years later), César and Rocchi while Antonio Cassano had temporarily equalised for Roma.
A shock result and dream debut for former player Papadopulo. Roma took the defeat badly and were extremely sore losers.
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