Sarri: "We Have Certainly Made Progress From The Previous Game Against Lecce. In The First 20 Minutes, We Wasted A Lot Of Shots."

According to Maurizio Sarri, Lazio is unable to perform exceptionally in their current situation. This is primarily due to the tardy arrival of many of their newly acquired players. However, Sarri was able to discern marked improvement within his team despite their defeat to Genoa on Sunday evening (27/08) in the local time zone.

The beginning of the 2023/24 season has been challenging for Lazio, as they faced a loss of 2-1 in their match against Lecce last weekend, followed by a 1-0 defeat by Genoa during Sunday's game. Mateo Retegui managed to score an early goal with a header, which proved sufficient to earn his team three valuable points at the Olimpico stadium.

Lazio had their fair share of opportunities to score, yet they failed to capitalize on them. Among these chances was a shot from Ciro Immobile that struck the crossbar. Additionally, Lazio could have been awarded two penalties in the first half, with Immobile and Mattia Zaccagni both deserving of calls.

"We have certainly made progress from the previous game against Lecce, both in terms of mentality and in terms of approach. We were still hesitant at the start of the game, which easily swayed us, but we performed better from the 20th minute onward and then just failed to finish with our strikers still attempting to find their best," Sarri said via Sky Sport Italia.

"There is a progression even if it's not significant, despite the lack of a significant result tonight. It implies that we need to move forward even further."

Currently, there exists a gap between the defense and midfield in the game. Additionally, Lazio began the game with sluggish ball movement. However, the coach affirmed that the team's overall performance is relatively satisfactory.

"In the first 20 minutes, we wasted a lot of shots that were played out from behind, this exposed us. In terms of distribution, we were superior, as we held off Genoa for 70 minutes and only allowed one counter-attack that was successful for over four minutes. The first 20 minutes we were poor is true, and usually the quality of our strikers helps to make the difference, but tonight we couldn't find a way out."