Hellas Verona drew 1-1 with Lazio on a chilly Thursday evening at the Stadio Bentegodi in Serie A.
Senad Lulic opened the scoring towards the end of the first half after some sloppy defending from the Gialloblu before Luca Toni equalised from the penalty spot midway through the second half.
The game got off to a slightly scrappy start with both sides struggling to keep possession and the referee allowed a number of challenges to go unpunished.
Verona had half a shout for a penalty after a Bosko Jankovic cross from the left wing hit a Lazio defender in the area after 20 minutes.
Immediately after the penalty appeal after Luca Toni brought a high ball from deep under control before finishing cooly although it was disallowed as he was narrowly offside.
The Gialloblu looked dangerous after 30 minutes when Nico Lopez won the ball at the half way line from the Lazio defenders before slipping it through to Jankovic who squared it across the face of goal Toni expected the ball to be cut back and was not there to apply the finish.
Lopez looked dangerous down the right flank in the 37th minute and made some space for himself from which to deliver a dangerous cross but Jankovic wasn’t able to get a strong connection on his header.
Lazio had their first big chance of the first half in the 41st minute after Filip Djordjevic won the ball high up the pitch before giving it to Antonio Candreva whose shot was blocked as Hellas defence forced the attackers out wide.
The visitors opened the scoring immediately after the ball was put back in play after Vangelis Moras failed to clear Candreva’s cross and the ball ran through the six yard box to Senad Lulic who smashed in from close range and the Aquile went into the break a goal up.
The Mastini mustered a shot on target in the 49th minute after Emil Hallfredsson’s free kick was met by Luca Toni on the volley but Federico Marchetti was able to save the shot with relative ease.
Toni then hit the side netting in the 51st minute after a shanked clearance went straight into the sky and fell at the veteran’s feet who narrowly missed the target with his first-time effort.
Toni had another chance minutes later after Lopez broke down the right and found the big striker but his header missed the target.
The game then changed in the 67th minute when Luis Cavanda gave away a penalty and picked up his second yellow card of the evening for a clear foul on Juanito Gomez in the area.
Toni then stepped up for the subsequent spot-kick and calmly rolled it into the bottom left corner with Marchetti diving the wrong way.
Both teams continued to look for a winner after the equaliser but neither was able to demonstrate enough skill to forge any clear-cut chances.
Lopez tested Marchetti in the 83rd minute after using skill to open up space for a low shot to the far post but in the end neither side was able to find a winner in the final stages.
