It looked easy but …
Updated: 7 days ago
Game 8, Serie A
Sunday, October 2, 2022
Rome, Stadio Olimpico
Lazio Spezia 4-0
Lazio comfortably beat Spezia but the match could have gone differently had Manuel Lazzari not saved a goal early on.
The teams
Maurizio Sarri chose to risk Ciro Immobile even though he had not trained for a week. Danilo Cataldi recovered from a few minor problems and Manuel Lazzari was back, so Lazio had their classic line up. Spezia Manager Luca Gotti decided to advance Etan Ampadu to midfield and put Simone Bastoni back on the left wing due to Arkadiusz Reca’s absence through injury.
The match
It only took forty seconds for Lazio to create a chance and it was a big one. Felipe Anderson flew down the right wing, ball to Luis Alberto in the centre, he immediately dispatched it to Immobile who is was tripped by Ampadu. Penalty, no discussion necessary. Immobile looked a little out of breath. Not ideal when you had to kick a penalty. Ciro gave it a big whack, ball in Curva Nord.
The missed penalty didn't seem to bother Lazio and in the 5th minute Sergej Milinkovic-Savic just missed connecting with the ball after a marvellous assist from Felipe Anderson.
The seventh minute decided the match. M’Bala Nzola's pace beat Alessio Romagnoli down the right wing and put a great ball into the top far left corner of the box for the incoming Jakub Kiwior. The ball was going in and it would have put Spezia ahead but Lazzari managed to get a foot to it and it was only a corner. This was the decisive moment of the game. If Lazio had gone 1-0 down after missing a penalty it would have been a very steep mountain to climb.
Instead, five minutes later Lazio scored. Mattia Zaccagni got away from Ampadu on Lazio’s left wing, moved to the centre and reached the penalty area. Once there he passed the ball to Felipe Anderson, low cross to centre of the box and Zaccagni was there again to make it 1-0.
In the 24th minute there was a free kick on the right wing near the corner flag for Lazio. Luis Alberto crossed the ball to the far post, Immobile went for the kill but the Spezia defence saved. The ball went out of the penalty box but Cataldi sent it back in only for it to be cleared again by Spezia. Romagnoli got to the ball first and with an acrobatic shot made it 2-0 for Lazio. First Lazio goal for the former Milan skipper.
The game was virtually over. In the 36th minute Milinkovic-Savic headed the ball on the upper part of the cross bar. Spezia attempted a comeback but a Bastoni shot and a Caldara header were wide.
Second half
Sarri sent in Mario Gila at the beginning of the second half. Patric had intestinal problems and had to leave the pitch to spend the next hour sitting down in a particular area of the changing rooms.
Lazio tried to put the game to sleep by lowering the intensity in view of the upcoming 11 games to be played over next six weeks. Spezia were no match and even if they did give it a go, the Biancocelesti could score on the counter attack any second. And this was what they did in the 62nd minute.The usual magnificent pass from Luis Alberto to Immobile who ran for thirty meters towards the Spezia penalty box, dribbled past Bartlomiej Dragowski but went too far to the left. Head up, he saw Zaccagni unmarked and passed the ball to him. The Lazio forward sent the ball to the centre of the box where Milinkovic-Savic made it 3-0. It was s his 50th goal in Serie A.
Three minutes later it was time for the subs. Pedro and Elseid Hysaj replaced Immobile and Lazzari for Lazio, Kevin Agudelo, Albin Ekdal and Kelvin Amian substituted Mikael Ellertsson, Mehdi Bourabia and Ampadu.
Emmanuel Gyasi had a chance in the 70th minute but Ivan Provedel saved. Luis Alberto was substituted by Matias Vecino three minutes later and in the 76th minute an Emil Holm acrobatic shot from outside the penalty box was just wide. Spezia tried to reopen the contest but without much conviction. Nzola had a chance in the 82nd minute but his shot was wide.
In the first minute of injury time, Lazio made it four. Milinkovic-Savic to Hysaj who passed it back to the Serb unmarked in the box. No problem for the big man and 4-0 for Lazio. Game over.
A comfortable win but it could have been a lot more complicated.
Who played for Lazio
Provedel, Lazzari (64' Hysaj), Patric (46' Gila), Romagnoli, Marusic, Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi (77' Marcos Antonio), Luis Alberto (73' Vecino), Felipe Anderson, Immobile (64' Pedro), Zaccagni
Manager: Sarri
Who played for Spezia
Dragowski, Holm, Ampadu (65' Amian), Caldara, Nikolaou, Kiwior (82' Beck), Ellertsson (65' Agudelo), Bourabia (65' Ekdal), Bastoni, Gyasi (75' Sanca), Nzola
Substitutes: Zoet, Zovko, Verde, Ferrer, Maldini, Sher, Nguiamba, Strelec
Manager: Gotti.
Referee: Sacchi
Goals: 12' Zaccagni, 25' Romagnoli, 62' Milinkovic-Savic, 90'+1' Milinkovic-Savic
Bookings: Ampadu, Gysai
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