Lazio just played out a wild 3-3 draw against Serie B side Juve Stabia at the Formello Training Centre, and if you blinked, you probably missed three goals. This friendly, their second during this extended international break, was an absolute roller coaster, especially for Andrea Pinamonti, who had a day he probably wants to forget and remember all at once.
First Half Frenzy: Goals, Responses, and Questions
Coach Gennaro Gattuso rolled out his 4-2-3-1 formation again, sticking with the same lineup from the Arezzo game, which tells you he’s really trying to nail this setup down. But man, it was a messy first half. Lazio held possession early on, but it took them a good 30 minutes to finally break the deadlock. Pinamonti picked up a loose ball, fed Valerio Farcomeni, who then whipped in a perfect cross for Tijjani Noslin, and boom, a header into the far corner. You’d think that’s a good start, right? Nope. Less than two minutes later, Juve Stabia equalized from a corner, with David Buglio reacting quickest to slot it past Edoardo Motta. Talk about a punch to the gut!
Lazio pushed back, and in the 39th minute, Mattia Zaccagni, the captain, retook the lead. Their pressing game actually worked, forcing a poor pass that Alfonso Pedraza snatched up, then skillfully fed Zaccagni for a first-time shot that took a deflection and beat the keeper. Good stuff! But can you guess what happened next? Seriously, it was like deja vu. Within a few minutes, Fabio Maistro received the ball at the edge of the box and curled a delicate shot into the bottom corner. Motta was beaten again. Heading into halftime with a 2-2 scoreline in a friendly, it was clear Gattuso had some serious talking to do about defensive lapses, especially with eight players on international duty and six others like Albert Gudmundsson (who dislocated his shoulder) and Nicolo Rovella on the sidelines.
Second Half Chaos: A Penalty Miss, a Loanee’s Apology, and a Late Equalizer
The drama ramped up even more after the break. Lazio got a golden chance to take the lead for a third time when Juve Stabia’s substitute keeper, Pietro Boer, made a terrible pass that Noslin intercepted. Noslin got brought down in the box by Thomas Battistella, and it was a clear penalty. Andrea Pinamonti stepped up, looking to make amends, but Boer, the very keeper who messed up, redeemed himself with a solid save. You gotta feel for Pinamonti there!
Then, in the 65th minute, the absolute kicker. Juve Stabia took the lead for the first time, and who scored? None other than Sana Fernandes, a player *on loan from Lazio*! He controlled a long ball expertly, beat Manuel Lazzari in a duel, and chipped it past Motta. The guy literally apologized to his parent club after scoring! Can you imagine? It’s like watching your ex score against you. But Pinamonti, after that brutal penalty miss, finally got his moment of redemption in the 78th minute. Boer, who was a hero moments before, got caught napping with another blunder, and Pinamonti was there to bury it, bringing the score to 3-3.
So, a 3-3 draw against a Serie B team during an international break. What does this really mean? While it’s just a friendly, it highlights some serious defensive issues when they couldn’t hold a lead for more than a few minutes. Getting those international players back and having guys like Dele-Bashiru return to the squad will be huge. Gattuso clearly has some work to do to tighten things up before the regular season schedule heats up again. Let’s hope they iron out these kinks before it really counts!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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