Lazio shook off their derby humiliation with a comfortable win over Sassuolo thanks to Manuel Lazzari and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic goals.
The Aquile’s confidence was badly hit by a 3-0 Derby della Capitale defeat to arch-rivals Roma and they were only six points clear of Sassuolo going into the Stadio Olimpico. Pedro was suspended and Stefan Radu injured, while Domenico Berardi and Maxime Lopez were carrying knocks for the Neroverdi.
Manuel Lazzari’s angled drive tested Andrea Consigli after 70 seconds, while Hamed Junior Traore drilled inches wide.
Thomas Strakosha came flying out to get something on the Gianluca Scamacca chip, Davide Frattesi then firing the rebound over.
Lazzari pulled back from the by-line, but Ciro Immobile and Mattia Zaccagni crashed into each other when trying to tap in from six yards.
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Lazzari got the goal himself instead, intercepting a wayward Gian Marco Ferrari midfield pass and cutting inside to drill into the bottom corner with his left foot.
Adam Marusic’s right-foot curler after an Immobile back-heel flick was acrobatically flapped away by Consigli, while Immobile scuffed wide on a Felipe Anderson assist.
Felipe Anderson and Georgios Kyriakopoulos tested the goalkeepers, but Sassuolo had a huge opportunity to equalise on 42 minutes. First Davide Frattesi’s header thumped the upright, then Matheus Henrique’s follow-up was smothered.
Immobile wasted another golden opportunity set up for him by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, but Lazio did double their lead eventually.
Luis Alberto took a free kick quickly, it was not cut out by Sassuolo defenders and Milinkovic-Savic scored despite scuffing the finish. There was a very long wait for VAR to check a potential offside position, but it was eventually given the all-clear.
Luis Alberto almost curled in directly from the corner flag, but it bounced off the top of the crossbar.
After a difficult period of play under a hailstorm, Sassuolo did pull one back in stoppages with a cross flicked on for Hamed Traore at the back post.
Lazio 2-1 Sassuolo
Lazzari 17 (L), Milinkovic-Savic 51 (L), Traore 94 (S)