Despite seeing a Taty Castellanos penalty saved, Lazio came back from a goal down to inflict the first Empoli defeat with Mattia Zaccagni and Pedro’s scorcher.
The Biancocelesti were full of confidence after sitting top of the Europa League table with a perfect record, plus last week’s 3-2 Serie A victory away to leaders Torino. Empoli were surprisingly still unbeaten this season, despite missing Saba Sazanov, Tyronne Ebuehi, Samuele Perisan, Szymon Zurkowski and Luca Belardinelli.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
It was the Tuscans who took the surprise lead in the Eternal City, as Ivan Provedel slipped when the Giuseppe Pezzella cross came in and was unable to get back on his feet in time to stop the Sebastiano Esposito header.
Boulaye Dia scuffed wide moments later and Devis Vasquez was almost surprised by a cheeky Gustav Isaksen free kick, while the Empoli goalkeeper struggled to push a swerving Taty Castellanos rocket over the bar.
Things got worse for Lazio, as they lost Manuel Lazzari to a suspected femoral bicep strain, pulling up by himself as he ran down the touchline.
Isaksen ran onto a Nicolò Rovella slide-rule pass and his angled drive skimmed the far post, but Lazio finally equalised deep into first-half stoppages.
It was yet another assist for Nuno Tavares, who got down the left and stood up a cross that Zaccagni steered with his head into the far top corner from 12 yards. The former Arsenal man provided five assists in as many games.
Lazio received a penalty when Pezzella clattered into Dia and the referee pulled it back after the advantage failed to materialise. Castellanos tried to drill it straight down the middle, but Vasquez parried with his legs and the striker then nodded the rebound off target too.
Just days after scoring a not dissimilar goal in the Europa League against OGC Nice, Pedro came off the bench and put Lazio in front for the first time. He sprung the offside trap on a Castellanos through ball and fired the rocket in off the underside of the crossbar from a tight angle.
The hosts kept pushing to make sure of the victory, but Vasquez stuck out a foot to parry from point-blank range when Matteo Guendouzi sent Castellanos clear, then Gaetano Castrovilli curled the rebound wide.
This was Lazio’s fourth consecutive victory in all competitions.
Lazio 2-1 Empoli
Esposito 9 (E), Zaccagni 45 (L), Pedro 84 (L)
Saved penalty: Castellanos 51 (L)
Player statistic
| 9' |  |
Sebastiano Esposito | ||
| 29' |  |
Giuseppe Pezzella | ||
| 31' | |
Jacopo Fazzini | ||
| Mattia Zaccagni (Assist: Nuno Tavares) |
|
45+4' | ||
| Nicolò Rovella | |
45+5' |
| Taty Castellanos |  |
51' | ||
| Taty Castellanos | |
53' | ||
| 78' | |
Emmanuel Gyasi | ||
| 82' | |
Alberto Grassi | ||
| Pedro (Assist: Taty Castellanos) |
|
84' |
Match statistic
