Felipe Anderson and Toma Basic gave Lazio the points, meaning Napoli will win the Scudetto with a point against Udinese tomorrow, while Sassuolo rattled the woodwork.
There were many eyes on this game, because if Maurizio Sarri’s men failed to win, it would mathematically crown Napoli the new Champions of Italy even before tomorrow’s trip to Udinese. The Biancocelesti had their own motivation, clinging on to second place after back-to-back defeats with Alessio Romagnoli suspended and Danilo Cataldi injured. Sassuolo had both Andrea Pinamonti and Maxime Lopez sitting out bans, but Domenico Berardi was back in the starting XI after a brace off the bench to beat Empoli.
There was a double Lazio chance in the opening minutes, as Felipe Anderson pounced on a Davide Frattesi error to go on the counter, forcing a save from Andrea Consigli before Marcos Antonio fired wide.
Ciro Immobile hit the back of the net from a Matias Vecino lay-off after springing the offside trap on a Marcos Antonio through ball and at first it was ruled offside, then given on by VAR, but a few moments later it was disallowed again because the VAR found an earlier offside position.
Immobile was fired up and his curler was beaten away by Consigli, the goal arriving moments later when Felipe Anderson did spring the offside trap on a Marcos Antonio ball over the top, his excellent first touch and finish with the right boot.
There was a setback when Vecino limped off with a thigh issue, making way for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Sassuolo came so close to an equaliser on the stroke of half-time, Frattesi turning his marker to smash the crossbar from a tight angle with his right boot.
Frattesi also had an attempt charged down after the restart, while Marcos Antonio failed to make the most of a terrible Ruan Tressoldi back-pass and Gregoire Defrel flashed his finish across the face of goal after springing the offside trap.
Immobile reacted furiously to being substituted and repeatedly punched the covering of the bench, while Ivan Provedel was alert to smother the Berardi effort at the base of the near post.
Lazio penalty appeals were waved away, because Jeremy Toljan’s arm was flush to the body in a natural position, and Tomas Basic drilled wide from the D.
Lazio added a second deep into stoppages when Zaccagni flew down the left and rolled across for Basic to tap in from close range.
Lazio 2-0 Sassuolo
Felipe Anderson 14 (L), Basic 93 (L)
Player statistic
| Felipe Anderson (Assist: Marcos Antônio) |
 |
14' | ||
| 27' |  |
Armand Lauriente | ||
| Luis Alberto | |
40' | ||
| 41' | |
Domenico Berardi |
| 51' | |
Ruan Tressoldi | ||
| 60' | |
Nadir Zortea | ||
| Adam Marusic | |
62' | ||
| 82' | |
Jeremy Toljan | ||
| Manuel Lazzari | |
84' | ||
| Toma Basic (Assist: Mattia Zaccagni) |
|
90+2' |
Match statistic
