Serie A returned after the international break with this duel in Salerno. Salernitana were bottom of the table and without a win all season. That changed today though when they came up against a dire Lazio side who were without Alessio Romagnoli, Nicolo Casale and their most creative outlet in Luis Alberto. This lack of creativity was an eyesore in the middle of the park and the Biancocelesti only got on the score sheet through a Ciro Immobile penalty after a tussle with Norbert Gyomber. Grigoris Kastanos pounced on a loose ball at a corner to equalise in the second period and former Lazio man Antonio Candreva came back to haunt the visitors with a rocket the swerved past Ivan Provedel. The final whistle was met with Jubilation on the Granata bench as they ran out winners 2-1. On a woeful afternoon for Maurizio Sarri here’s where his squad went wrong as they’re left with a sinking feeling in Salerno.
Ivan Provedel – 5.5
Good reaction save in the first half. Didn’t look best pleased with his back four sometimes. Rushing out he denyed Grigoris Kastanos with his right boot. The movement on Candreva’s winner tricked the shot stopper.
Manuel Lazzari -5
Showed some nice quick interchanges with Matteo Guendouzi and got a shot away. Otherwise he couldn’t make things happen.
Patric – 5
Was the most senior centre half in the absence of Romagnoli. He switched off to hand Kastanos a simple finish.
Mario Gila – 5.5
The young Spanish defender made his first appearence since the seventh of March for the Biancocelesti. He took some time to settle but the Salernitana attack didn’t give him much trouble in the first half. In the second there were one or two errors. Lack of match practice but overall solid.
Adam Marusic – 5.5
Overlapping with wingers is one of his favourite pastimes and he was at it again this afternoon but without notable success. The Granata didn’t create chances to combat for him.
Danilo Cataldi – 5
Hit and miss on corner duty standing in for Luis Alberto. His lofted pass leads to Immobile’s penalty. Got booked and didn’t set it alight in the middle. Middling performance.
Daichi Kamada – 4.5
He is a different player to Alberto so wasn’t a direct replacement. The Japanese midfielder was tidy enough when involved in attack. However the cutting edge and vision was lacking. He needed to track back more throughout. His foul led to Candreva’s Eurogol.
Matteo Guendouzi – 5.5
Impressive one touch play with Lazzari. He was the most determined of the squad today. But he couldn’t make it happen by himself. Always wanted to be involved in the action.
Mattia Zaccagni – 6
The most positive attacker today. He serviced Immobile with crosses and some of his moves to evade defenders were impressive. Should’ve finished a cross from Felipe Anderson but injured himself in the process and hobbled off.
Ciro Immobile – 6.5
Lack of creativity behind him let him down. The penalty he won was dispatched assuredly into the left hand corner. A heavy touch let him down on occasion but chances never materialised for him to finish.
Felipe Anderson – 4.5
Alert in the first period to create Lazio’s first chance. His cross to Zaccagni was his best contribution. Quite dull.
Substitutes:
Elseid Hysaj – 4
Hysaj didn’t make any impact when his side were chasing the game. He wasted one chance in added time but that was about it. Disappointing.
Pedro – 4
Pedro was nowhere to be seen for large parts of his half hour appearence. When he did appear it was obvious he wasn’t at the races.
Taty Castellanos – 5
Dropped back to try bring ball forward himself. Clipped and won a foul but couldn’t equalise from the free kick. Indecisive.
Gustav Isaksen – 6
Second positive appearance in a row. Won a free with his first touch. Won corners and was comfortable on the ball.