Posts Tagged ‘Lazio’

Lazio 4-2 Roma: Everything You Desire from a Derby della Capitale (Serie A Matchday 31)

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

Lazio's Mauro Zarate (L) celebrates after scoring as AS Roma's Julio Baptista reacts during their Serie A soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Rome April 11, 2009. (REUTERS)

These are dire days in Italy, as an entire nation mourns the losses from the Abruzzo earthquake earlier this week. Hundreds of casualties and thousands of homeless people in central Italy, but as they say in sporting terms, “the show must go on”.

And what a show it was today at the Stadio Olimpico of Rome, really everything you could desire from a tense, heart-felt Roman derby: goals, drama, and the inevitable yellow/red cards. Yes, we can all hide under a politically-correct façade and claim “no one wants to see those in soccer” but the truth is, sending off offences are a testimony to how much a derby victory represents for these teams. In particular two teams who, let’s be honest, can safely call the 2008-09 season a failure.

Lazio can be doubly satisfied with their victory today. Not only did they reacquire a bit of pride after three consecutive league losses, but they triumphed over their arch-nemesis, Roma, increasing their positive “home” trend in the Derby della Capitale to three (after the 3-0 and 3-2 victories in 2007 and 2008) and effectively nullifying the Giallorossi’s Champions League hopes for next season. Just the right kind of victory Delio Rossi needed to keep his job.

It’ll be a very happy easter in the Biancocelesti manager’s home, no doubt.

Note: Once again, I find myself in the position of having to apologize for the lack of recent updates. I’ve been having a rough time this week on a personal level, and to make matters worse I sustained a sprained ankle Wednesday (playing soccer, what else) which will keep me sidelined for a few weeks. My heart & mind’s just not been “in it”. Hopefully things will get better soon, so thank you for your fidelity and your patience.

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Lazio 2-1 Juventus: Biancocelesti Turn It Around at the Olimpico (Coppa Italia Semi-Finals, First Leg)

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Coppa Italia 2008-09 - SF L1 - Lazio vs. Juventus

At the end of a day dominated by controversy (post-Inter vs. Roma ripples), legal affairs (president Claudio Lotito being indicted) and managerial complaints (Mourinho’s rant), it was nice to see a bit of footy action at Stadio Olimpico Tuesday. And for our greatest delight Lazio vs. Juventus ended up being a vibrant and entertaining match

For the first leg of Coppa Italia‘s Semi-finals, the result was 2-1 to the Biancocelesti: they came back from Marchionni‘s goal with tallies by Pandev and Rocchi, who in Zarate’s absence (suspended) made a key difference among Lazio ranks. Things are still very much open for the second leg (April 22) and Juve will have the opportunity to turn the result around at that time, hoping to field their first half team (not the one overrun by Lazio in the second half).

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Lazio 2-0 Bologna: Mauro Zarate Makes the Eagles Soar… (Serie A Matchday 26)

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

Lazio's Argentine forward Mauro Matias Zarate (R) celebrates after scoring against Bologna during their Serie A football match at Olympic stadium in Rome on February 28, 2009. (AFP/Getty Images)

After nearly two months of hunger Lazio made peace with the Olimpico crowd Saturday, defeating Bologna with two goals by Mauro Zarate and obtaining their first home victory of 2009. It was a double-rebirth of sorts, with the the team collectively answering their coach’s “wake-up” call and their Argentine striker (whose last goal was in mid-December) finally returning his name to the scoreboard. Coupled with Matuzalem’s recovery and Foggia’s first top-notch performance of the season, Delio Rossi can be quite satisfied with how his week-end started.

The same cannot be said for Sinisa Mihajlovic unfortunately. His team’s currently 17th in the Serie A standings, one measley point above the first relegated side (who still have to play on Sunday). Despite a very active Marco Di Vaio, Bologna simply were off their pace today: only the entrance of Marazzina (coupled with the removal of Rodriguez) managed to improve the predictability the Rossoblu had shown in the first half. Mihajlovic knows he will need much better performances from his men if he intends to keep Bologna in the Italian top-flight division.

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Lazio 1-1 Torino: A Draw of Broken Promises & Disappointment (Serie A Matchday 24)

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

Lazio defender Stephan Lichtsteiner, of Switzerland, left, and Torino midfielder Eugenio Corini compete for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Torino, in Rome's Olympic stadium, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009. (AP Photo by ANDREW MEDICHINI)

Lazio vs. Torino Saturday really evoked punk-rock band Greenday to me for some reason. Must be because of that song, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams“, which seemed to perfectly illustrate the Stadio Olimpico tonight: two teams with high expectations early in the season (Champions League for Lazio, mid-table ranking for Torino) and who now find themselves with their face in the gutter.

The key number here was four. Four consecutive losses for the Biancocelesti, four consecutive draws for the Granata (plus a victory which has been eluding them since the last days of December). And would you be surprised if I told that even tonight the honours were even, resulting in one point per side not really helping either team but which at least puts an end to manager Delio Rossi’s losing streak. Odds are that it still won’t be enough to keep his job safe for much longer…

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Fiorentina vs. Lazio Preview: A Case of ‘Don’t Fire on a Sinking Ship’?

Friday, February 6th, 2009

With a new round of Serie A coming up, the juiciest piece of footy action this week-end is probably the tie between Fiorentina and Lazio.  The home side have come through a rough period but are back to winning ways after two convincing victories vs. Napoli and Bologna.  Lazio on the other hand go into this game on the back of three straight defeats, and desperately need the win if they are to hold any aspirations of qualifying for Europe this season.

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