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The atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed 10 goals while scoring only two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.

This Year's Efforts Unraveling?

Had their campaign falling apart, or was there ever a binding element maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the club had not mentioned a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he stated that Lotito had "swindled" him.

The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to ascertain if progress is being made or collapsing.

Cancellieri's Surprising Comeback

At least one man continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on the last one with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to stay there temporarily. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster without replacements.

He joined originally when Sarri was last in charge, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom but then not selecting him."

Discovering His True Position

Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn