Ciro Immobile silenced his critics and put Lazio on the verge of Champions League Round of 16 football as he came off the bench to bag a late brace against Celtic.
The Biancocelesti suffered a shock Serie A defeat to Salernitana on Saturday. They were missing Alessio Romagnoli, Mattia Zaccagni, Nicolò Casale and suspended Matias Vecino, while Ivan Provedel was able to play despite flu symptoms. Rock bottom Celtic had just one point in the group phase and lost 2-1 when these sides met in Glasgow. Daizen Maeda and Luis Palma sat out bans, with Reo Hatate and Liel Abada injured.
There were weak attempts straight at the goalkeepers from surprise starter Gustav Isaksen and Kyogo Furuhashi.
Felipe Anderson’s diving header at the back post bounced off target and he scuffed another attempt wide, while Patric had to clear when Mario Gila’s back-pass surprised Provedel.
Luis Alberto drilled at Joe Hart from distance, but after the restart Furuhashi saw his angled drive flash across Provedel and the far post.
Nicolò Rovella was booked and will be suspended for the final trip to Atletico Madrid.
Castellanos had a couple of free headers from corners that went over the bar, while Isaksen was sent through on a Felipe Anderson pass only for the angled drive to skim the far post.
Adam Marusic’s right-foot curler was over the bar, while Provedel had to be alert on a Cameron Carter-Vickers header and Hyeongyu Oh attempt from distance.
Ciro Immobile came off the bench and had a strike charged down, then his dummy let a Manuel Lazzari pass through for Luis Alberto to balloon over the bar.
The deadlock was finally broken, as Isaksen cut inside from the right and his shot was deflected, turning into an accidental assist for Immobile to pounce at the back post and score from a tricky angle.
Moments later, Immobile scored again on another Isaksen assist. This one was floated over the top, the Italy striker shrugged off one defender, turned another and finished low at the near bottom corner. He has now scored eight goals in his last 10 Champions League games.
Celtic kept pushing and after Provedel had his gloves stung by Alistair Johnston, the referee awarded an extraordinarily soft penalty for Patric laying a hand on the back of Oh, but it was revoked following a VAR on-field review.
Lazio 2-0 Celtic
Immobile 82, 85 (L)
Player statistic
| 27' |  |
Greg Taylor | ||
| 35' | |
Alistair Johnston |
| Nicolò Rovella | |
51' | ||
| 71' | |
Matt O’Riley | ||
| 78' | |
Hyun-jun Yang | ||
| Ciro Immobile |  |
82' | ||
| Ciro Immobile (Assist: Gustav Isaksen) |
|
85' | ||
| Pedro | |
89' | ||
| Patric | |
90+3' |
Match statistic
