Lazio are in a fine run of form at the moment, winning convincingly as they demolished Torino 4-0 on Wednesday night and Italian international Ciro Immobile continued his purple patch in scoring by adding another two goals to his seasonal tally.
After staging a great comeback to draw against Atalanta in round 8 and winning in the dying minutes against Fiorentina on Sunday evening, the Biancocelesti clearly were the dominant team against the Granata and the away side posed little threat going forward.
Immobile maintained his terrific scoring rate but the other two Lazio goals came from unlikely sources; Aquile centre-back Francesco Acerbi scored the opener and Torino striker Andrea Belotti sealed his team’s defeat with an own goal.
GOALS RAIN TORRENTIALLY ON TORINO
Defensive solidarity was something Torino prided themselves on in the 2018/19 season, conceding just 37 goals for the whole league campaign. Coach Walter Mazzarri was suspended but his assistant Nicolo Frustalupi had to witness his rearguard leak goals like a sieve.
Acerbi was given plenty of space to score from approximately 35 metres and Granata goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu did not react in time to make a save. Nkoulou allowed Immobile to comfortably dribble past him for the second goal and then he fouled Felipe Caicedo, which resulted in his second yellow card as well as a Lazio penalty.
Own goals are generally embarrassing but it is worse when a striker scores one. Luis Alberto took a corner for the Aquile and Belotti deflected the ball past Sirigu into his own net. The Granata striker had an acrobatic attempt for his team early in the game but failed to hit the target.
Torino have failed to win their last five Serie A fixtures, with their last victory coming against AC Milan in late September, and they have lost their last four away games in the league, the first time they have had such a streak since October 2015.
The Granata are now 12th in the Serie A table with 11 points from 10 matches and they have only scored 11 times. They are struggling to score so surely they have to rediscover how to prevent conceding many.
IMMOBILE SUSTAINS PROLIFICACY
If he was not already scoring goals for fun, Immobile added another two strikes against Toro and he now has 12 goals in the league so far this season, four more than his nearest rival Luis Muriel from Atalanta.
It took him until his 24th appearance to reach 12 goals for the 2018/19 Serie A campaign but now he is averaging over a goal a game. The former Torino striker has also scored five goals in seven encounters with his old side.
He ran onto a Luis Alberto through-ball for his first goal and he netted his second from the penalty spot Caicedo was fouled. The assist from the Spaniard was the fourth that he provided for the Italian this season, further illustrating their importance to this Lazio team.
The Aquile are fifth in the Serie A table with 18 points after 10 games and they need Immobile to keep scoring if they want to qualify for the Champions League under Simone Inzaghi.
CATALDI IS THE VICE-LUCAS LEIVA
Lazio youth academy graduate Danilo Cataldi struggled to establish himself as a Serie A regular in the past but he proved against Torino than he can a valuable contributor in midfield.
The 25-year-old was one of the inspirations for the Biancocelesti’s comeback in the 3-3 draw against Atalanta and he started against the Granata, dictating the play from deep and he nearly scored with a free-kick.
Lucas Leiva acts a shield for the defenders in midfield whereas Cataldi offers more offensively. Leiva wasn’t need against Toro and more displays like this might also signal the end for veteran midfielder Marco Parolo.
