ROME (ITALPRESS) – Lazio quickly recovered from defeat against Inter and returned to winning ways by beating Lecce 2-0. An important win saw the Biancocelesti move up to 18 points, just two points behind sixth-placed Juventus, continuing a positive streak of six consecutive fruitful results that preceded the defeat against the Nerazzurri. And all this despite the surreal atmosphere at the Olimpico, with the Curva Nord absent in protest following the “case” linked to Vincenzo Paparelli’s memory; an “instrumental” protest born of wrong assumptions”, said president Claudio Lotito before the match. Returning to the pitch, Sarri found only Tavares, who started on the bench: the choice to start at left-back fell to Pellegrini. After just six minutes, Sottil scored with a shot deflected by Gila, but Arena stopped everything judging the striker’s light blow on Isaksen as a foul. Lazio increased the speed and pace, finding in Basic and Guendouzi’s insertion the winning weapon to create a backline the visitors were in great difficulty: in the 29th minute, the Croatian put it in the center for the Frenchman, who in the split took over Falcone in the return time, who could only touch the ball but without preventing his goal. A few minutes earlier, the Salento goalkeeper was outstanding in a close-range deflection from Guendouzi’s cross.
Lazio tried again with Basic although they didn’t find any sensational chances, while Lecce struggled to get out of their own defence. Therefore, at the break, Di Francesco brought on Stulic and Banda for Camarda and Berisha; On the other hand, Sarri had to replace Cataldi with Vecino because of the calf problem experienced by the Italian midfielder. Di Francesco’s choice seemed to have the desired effect, as Lecce immediately won the first corner of the match, but it was only an instant. Lazio scored in the 50th minute through Dia, but, after an on-field review, Arena judged the striker’s shove with his shoulder towards Tiago Gabriel a foul. The Biancocelesti wanted a second goal: Falcone was first able to tap home Romagnoli’s header and then capitalize on Isaksen’s effort, meanwhile, in the 72nd minute, the goalposts managed to deny Guendouzi (placed from the edge) and Zaccagni (acrobatics). In the middle, Lecce’s opportunity was not taken advantage of by Tiago Gabriel who from a distance chose a precise solution by launching a kick that was too slow and easily blocked by Provedel. In the final, the only beacon for Lecce was N’dri, while Gila left the field due to physical boredom: Patric replaced him. Lazio’s efforts were rewarded in the fifth of seven minutes of stoppage time with Noslin’s goal assisted directly by Provedel: the striker beat Tiago Gabriel (a bad night) and, at the second attempt, also beat Falcone.
– Photo: Ipa Agency –
(ITALPRES).
