Isaksen’s déjà vu against Juventus

Just as couples return to their honeymoon destination to kiss in front of a fountain, Gustav Isaksen took a photograph of a photograph at the Juventus Stadium, eight months after his similar away goal in the same net, from that wing and again on a Sunday during prime time.

Back then – on 8 February – Lazio had failed to take all three points, held back at the last gasp by a header from Pierre Kalulu. Today, however, they return to Rome with three well-deserved points, which deepen the Bianconeri’s crisis (there are so many, from Napoli to Udinese) and keep their side at the top of the table.  

The Danish winger indeed put his stamp on the goal that sparked a realisation – the second of the match – after his equally fair-haired compatriot Oliver Provstgaard had put the Eagles ahead. A realisation that they could still stay at the top, that they could take nothing for granted and go beyond simply resting on their laurels.

Because Lazio, in these first seven matchdays, are a team, whereas Juventus are not. One need only look at the steady improvement of Provstgaard himself and the other centre-back, Josip Šutalo (who was magnificent in Turin), the effective resurgence of Nuno Tavares and Reda Belahyane, and Mattia Zaccagni’s renewed leadership.

In a game of football where those who do not play the ball forward enough are accused by supporters of the ‘low block’ of essentially playing ‘poetry’, the Biancocelesti are well aware that they can make the most of their pacy forward, and thus effortlessly shield themselves from the newly revealed anti-football stigma.

Luciano Spalletti’s side, however, capitulated. And whilst a goal conceded just a few minutes before half-time is always considered recoverable, conceding a second goal exactly two-thirds of the way through the match sets off serious alarm bells, leaving the door wide open for a possible third goal – which is exactly what happened last night.

It was Tavares himself, from his position in his own half, who delivered a slightly outside, parabolic cross to switch play. The camera lingers on Isaksen’s perfect first touch, as he is kept sufficiently wide by Zeki Çelik – almost like a delayed broadcast of a derby.

The Dane controls the ball and advances on his left foot. His first steps are wobbly, like riding a bicycle: his right foot acts as a brake, whilst his left drives the momentum. A dizzying little dance, with the Turkish player staring intently at the ball, hoping to lure his opponent out of the area where he can do the most damage.

At this rate, they will reach the edge of Juventus’s penalty area: to their right, Romano Floriani Mussolini surges forward, like a train running ahead of schedule. The full-back’s presence unsettles Çelik, granting Isaksen the time to move into position, take aim and fire a clinical diagonal shot into the net.

No doubt, after the goal, the winger will have thought back to the experience he had last winter – same location, only this time in the blue away kit: the first pass came from Danilo Cataldi, from the centre of the pitch, playing the ball deep and cutting out Andrea Cambiaso’s attempt to intervene.

Isaksen had been through a difficult few months and gave it his all to drive into open space on the pitch: reaching the final gap, he unleashed a powerful low shot, which flew into the net just under the crossbar defended by Michele Di Gregorio. But in the 47th minute, it was too early to celebrate victory: today is Lazio’s day.