Lazio continued their pre-season preparations in emphatic fashion on Sunday, putting six past Serie D side Flaminia Civita Castellana at their Formello training ground. New signings Alfonso Pedraza and Danilho Doekhi both made their first appearances in a Biancocelesti shirt, with the former providing an assist on an encouraging afternoon for Gennaro Gattuso's side.
The scoring was opened by Matteo Cancellieri, who found the net in the opening period. Fisayo Dele-Bashiru doubled the advantage shortly after, getting on the end of a Pedraza cross to mark the Spaniard's debut with a direct contribution. Young defender Nicolò Bordon added a third before the interval, tapping home from a set-piece situation to give Lazio a commanding 3-0 lead at the break.
Gattuso rang the changes in the second half, fielding a completely different XI, but the rhythm did not drop. Petar Ratkov extended the lead shortly after the restart, showing sharp movement inside the box to latch onto a through ball and finish calmly. Nicolò Rovella then produced the goal of the game, cutting inside from midfield and curling a precise strike into the top corner for Lazio's fifth — his first goal for the club. Captain Mattia Zaccagni completed the scoring from the penalty spot in the closing stages after Ratkov had been brought down inside the area.
The performance marked a clear step up from Lazio's first friendly against the Primavera side, with the 4-2-3-1 system Gattuso is implementing looking significantly more fluid. Dele-Bashiru was deployed as a trequartista behind centre-forward Artistico before being moved deeper in midfield to accommodate Doekhi, who entered the fray after the break and acquitted himself well on his debut.
Rovella, featuring in his first match of the summer, stood out with nearly an hour of playing time capped by a fine goal. Marusic again featured as a central defender, as he did against the Primavera, raising questions about a possible permanent positional shift. Ratkov also offered encouraging signs, scoring once and threatening on several other occasions.
Lazio were without five injured players — Daniele Cataldi, Gustav Isaksen, Patric, Nuno Tavares and Samuel Gigot — while Przyborek and Galassi also sat out with minor knocks. Zaccagni appeared slightly below his sharpest but still converted the late penalty.
Gattuso later expressed satisfaction with what he saw. "I'm happy with what I'm seeing," he said. "We still lack a little something and we know that, but I hope we can complete the squad. Chapeau to the commitment of these lads. The goals? I'm happy, but they shouldn't just come from the centre-forwards."
Lazio return to action next weekend with two friendlies in the space of 24 hours — against Serie B sides Avellino on Saturday and Ascoli on Sunday.
Sources
- https://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Serie-A/Lazio/26-07-2026/la-lazio-dilaga-col-flaminia-civita-castellana-ok-i-nuovi-pedraza-e-doekhi.shtml
