Despite playing for over an hour against a Cagliari side down to 10 men, Lazio relied on the early Pedro goal and an incredible Ivan Provedel save to give them all three points.
The Biancocelesti qualified for the Champions League Round of 16, but had just one point from three Serie A rounds. Mattia Zaccagni, Alessio Romagnoli and Nicolò Casale were still out of action, while the Sardinians missed Alessandro Di Pardo, Marko Rog and Elio Capradossi.
Lazio took the lead early doors when Pantelis Hatzidiakos was far too weak under pressure from Manuel Lazzari in the penalty area and on the pull-back from the by-line, Pedro nutmegged Simone Scuffet with the first-time finish from close range.
Hatzidiakos had a nightmare start, as moments later he was booked for bringing down Gustav Isaksen on the edge of the box following an awful first touch and the resulting Luis Alberto free kick was palmed away.
Adam Marusic made a decisive tackle to stop Gianluca Lapadula going clear on goal from Nicolas Viola’s through ball, then the Italo-Peruvian striker steered a free header inches wide.
Pedro was one-on-one with Scuffet after a well-worked team move involving Isaksen and Immobile, then Mateo Guendouzi was going clear on goal when pulled back by Antoine Makoumbou. At first, the referee had awarded a yellow card, but changed it to red after the VAR on-field review.
Immobile saw his angled drive flash across the face of goal, just past both the far post and Isaksen, but there was a bad sign when Luis Alberto pulled up with a muscular issue.
Taty Castellanos came off the bench and immediately flicked the ball straight at Scuffet from point-blank range on the Felipe Anderson assist, then was clear on goal until the sensational Ibrahim Sulemana sliding tackle as he was about to shoot.
It was 10-man Cagliari who poured forward in the closing minutes, Provedel forced into an astonishing one-handed reaction save on substitute Leonardo Pavoletti’s diving header from 12 yards.
It still wasn’t over, as after Castellanos wasted a counter-attack, Manuel Lazzari’s weak back-header was intercepted by Gaetano Oristanio, turning wide of the empty net as Provedel had to come flying out.
Lazio won, but were jeered off the pitch at the final whistle by their own fans.
Lazio 1-0 Cagliari
Pedro 9 (L)
Sent off: Makoumbou 27 (C)
Player statistic
| Pedro (Assist: Manuel Lazzari) |
 |
8' | Â | Â |
| Â | Â | 12' |  |
Pantelis Hatzidiakos |
| Â | Â | 27' |  |
Antoine Makoumbou |
| Â | Â | 75' | |
Nahitan Nández |
Match statistic
