Two Down, One To Go

By: cathal | April 20th, 2009

Lazio saw off a gutsy Genoa side on Saturday thanks to a stunning goal that was made in Serbia and delivered in Argentina. Kolarov’s exquisite pass was calmly controlled by the nerveless Zarate and dispatched into the bottom left corner. A beautiful goal that secured a beautiful victory and after two sensational back-to-back wins, only one foe remains; Juventus.

If there has been any trend to our play this season then it has undoubtedly been our inconsistency. We always manage to bang a few sublime wins together but then we somehow mess it up with three or four inexplicable performances. As a result, I’m not sure what team will turn up in Turin and for that reason, I can’t predict how things will go. However, one thing is certain; if we play on Wednesday like we did on Saturday, we can look forward to a cup final in front of the Curva Nord.

If we can beat Genoa away, we can beat Juve away and the funny thing is, we don’t have to beat the latter. Hopefully we can keep fatigue at bay for at least another game. Two weeks ago, this season was gone; now it’s alive and kicking wildly but we must be cautious with our enthusiasm, it could all be swept from beneath our feet in one game. We live and die by such margins.

I’ll let the highlights, pictures and reaction do the talking. I’m too excited about the Coppa to fill you in on the Genoa game. To be honest, it’s no longer in the memory. Forza Lazio!

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Reaction:

“The injuries were the only negatives. It’s a shame about Pandev, who had to come off with a muscular injury.”

“We hope the injury is not serious, so that we have everyone available for the game in Turin as we want to do well there.”

“I am not milk which expires. We will continue as we are, and then we will see what happens.” – Delio Rossi speaking about Goran’s injury (which I have been told will keep him out of Wednesday’s tie) and the possibility of his sacking.

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Highlights:

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Pictures: http://www.piazzadellaliberta.it/gallery/?album=2&gallery=84

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Player Ratings:

I didn’t see all of the game (stream problems) so thank you Cristiano for these.

Muslera – 7: Two or three top class saves to deny Genoa. One brilliant reflex save early on and an intervention later to deny Sculli (I think). Kicking was laughable though, needs to improve.

De Silvestri - 7: Very solid. Staked his claim for a starting place, added quality going forward and defending. Even more impressive given his lack of regular football.

Diakite – 6.5: Decent game from him. A player for the future Went off injured though which was a shame.

Rozehnal – 6.5: Solid and good in the air as a player of his size should be.

Kolarov - 6.5: This bloke just gets better and better. Positive is you can tell the defensive side of his game improves by week. Will be a real asset soon. Shaky early but came into the game.

Lichtsteiner – 6.5: Showed that he can play on the right side of midfield and play well. Helped cover Lollo and beat his opponent Criscito. I actually prefer him there than Brocchi.

Ledesma – 6: Didn’t think he had a great game but then he tends to get under the radar a bit.

Dabo – 6: Similar to Ledesma, wasn’t great. Probably due to the fact he hasn’t started for a while. I def prefer Matuzalem there.

Mauri – 5.5: Thought he didn’t get into the game as much as he should have. Doesn’t have the same drive as Foggia does and isn’t the same Mauri that we used to see. Wasted a couple of chances.

Pandev – 6: Looks like he could be out for a while. Personally it was a mistake to start him.

Rocchi – 6: Should have started in place of Pandev, could’ve scored late on. Nearly forced an own goal.

Zarate – 7.5: If we don’t re-sign this guy, I’ll be cut. Absolute gun of a player, causes problems, harasses defenders, quick, dangerous. Can be selfish but who can blame him??