Parma drew 0-0 with Lazio at the Stadio Ennio Tardini on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Neither team were able to break the deadlock in a match which both teams will feel they should have won with Giuseppe Biava being sent off late on for Lazio sparking the most entertaining moments of the game.
Both sides started as brightly as the other and Parma were the team to register the first attempts at goal within the first 10 minutes.
Lazio soon settled and appeared to be the most comfortable of the two sides after the first 20 minutes; Christian Ledesma and Antonio Candreva both finding time on the ball.
Neither team looked particularly dangerous until Lazio had a quick break on 25 minutes which ended with Miroslav Klose being found in the box by a well placed cross from the right, though he was unable to fully connect with the chance and the ball scooped out for a Parma goal kick over the top right-hand corner of the upright.
The most exciting two moves of the first half came shortly before half time when Lazio weaved their way through the Parma midfield with a string of well connected passes. Candreva found himself in space on the right and whipped in a cross, though no Lazio player was able to connect until Hernanes found himself with the ball at his feet on the far side of the 18-yard box. He was unable to get a shot away and was quickly dispossessed, which sprung a Parma counter attack.
Swiftly, the Crociati moved forward with intent and purpose but the final through ball was not directed well and they could only win a corner for their efforts.
Disappointingly, a physical, yet goalless first half came to an end with neither side looking like a stand out favourite to go on and win the game.
Parma should have scored 40 seconds after the restart when Amauri, marked but lurking at the far post, received a cross from the right. Frustratingly, he could only manage to guide it a yard wide low to the left of the post.
Two minutes later, Lazio felt aggrieved not to have won a free-kick just outside the 18-yard box and have last defender Gabriel Paletta sent off, but the referee judged the tangle to have been Ederson’s fault and awarded a free-kick to the home side.
Parma then proceeded to pile the pressure onto their Roman opponents and had wave after wave of attack rejected by the Biancocelesti. In the space of 10 minutes, Parma had a number of opportunities to create something dangerous and impact on the outcome of the game, but – to their credit – Lazio were able to keep the Gialloblu at bay.
For the next 20 minutes the run of play was spread fairly evenly and the two chances – one for each side – that gave either team the most reason to get excited were both speculative long range attempts from around 25 yards that brushed marginally wide of the upright.
Both sides made changes around the 70 minute mark that signalled that they were out to win this tie. Rightly, Lazio withdrew their talismanic German striker Miroslav Klose in favour of the young Czech Libor Kozak because Klose had struggled to make a big impression on this game.
Kozak had been on the pitch for a matter of seconds when he found himself onside and with only the ‘keeper to beat from the edge of the 18-yard box having timed his run onto a through ball from midfield to perfection. Unfortunately, he could only send his shot straight at the legs of Mirante who had closed down well to narrow the angle.
Moments later, Kozak had another fantastic chance to break the deadlock but could only despair as Antonio Candreva’s squared cross drove painfully past his out-stretched foot. Had he made contact he would have, without any doubt, scored from his position 5-yards from the goal-line.
Lazio were now enjoying all the attacking action and Stefan Radu got into a position in which he could have buried the ball at the far post from 6 yards out, but again agony struck as he failed to place his header and the ball flew narrowly over the bar.
Amauri, the best of a limp Parma attack today, had an opportunity in the closing moments but he was unable to curl his shot past Federico Marchetti in the Lazio goal.
Sergio Floccari, one of the Lazio substitutes, continued the frustration when he sent another Aquile shot wide after some good play by Kozak who won the ball in the air and laid off neatly for his strike partner.
Drama then ensued in the final minute when Giuseppe Biava was sent off for a second bookable offence. The resulting free-kick was fired through a crowd of players and bounced of Marchetti in the Lazio goal. Parma then scored when Ishak Belfodil placed the rebound, via a team-mate, into the back of the net. Celebrations started but were short lived when the realisation came that Belfodil was judged to have been offside.
To add to the drama, Lazio had a goal born of a free-kick disallowed as well when a Libor Kozak header was ruled to have stemmed from an offside position, though the definiteness of the decision was deemed to have been uncertain.
