Maurizio Sarri was left to rue Lazio errors, both in attack and defence, after their 2-1 defeat to Napoli, but also saw progress. ‘They were untouchable for us three months ago.’
It was another disappointing finale for the Aquile, who had managed to claw their way back on level terms after Lorenzo Insigne’s opener thanks to a sensational Pedro volley.
However, deep into stoppages, Insigne laid it off for Fabian Ruiz to fire in the Partenopei winner.
Serie A | Lazio 1-2 Napoli: Insigne and Fabian Ruiz catch Milan at the death
It puts Napoli joint top of the table with Milan, ahead on goal difference, and next weekend those two clubs are meant to go head-to-head at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
“It was a good performance, we dominated the first half and our regret was only being at 0-0. That means we went behind, got back on track, but then were punished by a naïve error at the 93rd minute,” Sarri told DAZN.
“We went to triple up the marking on the wing, allowing them to counter and we were badly set out in defence.
“However, if you think that three months ago Napoli were untouchable for us, but tonight we were on more than level terms and had more scoring opportunities than they did.”
When these sides met on November 28 at the Stadio Maradona, Napoli emerged 4-0 winners and were leading 3-0 within the opening half-hour.
Lazio, meanwhile, fall even further behind in the race for a top four finish, just days after crashing out of the Europa League against FC Porto.
“We had 10 minutes of total confusion against Porto after going 2-1 down. This time we used Luis Alberto in a more central role, which is a calculated risk, but the naïve error was trying to close down a player who was on the wing and let him get away. There were 40 seconds left, just foul him and give away a free kick from there.”
The Biancocelesti have certainly started to assimilate Sarri’s style of football, but what is he looking for in the remaining months of the season?
“The objective is to keep improving our performances, to do as well as possible and learn to read situations better so that we can transform those potential situations into results. It’s a matter of details, because we played well tonight and shouldn’t have lost.”
Oh wow, what a beauty from Fabian Ruiz 🤩😯
Napoli take the lead back in the 94th minute and become the new Serie A leaders! pic.twitter.com/lkAimfk6rY
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 27, 2022
Tare is unable to build credible defence for Lazio. That the problem of Lazio.