STADIO OLIMPICO (Rome) – Lazio missed out on the chance to move second in Serie A after being held to a 0-0 draw by a resilient Hellas Verona side at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday.
Luis Alberto was denied by the post twice in an exasperating evening for Simone Inzaghi’s side, who nevertheless stretched their unbeaten run in Serie A to 17 games, matching the club record set by Sven Goran Eriksson’s side of 1998/99.
The draw leaves Lazio in third, one point behind Inter and four adrift of leaders Juventus, while Verona are in ninth place.
Lazio missed the chance to close in on Juventus as they were held at home by Hellas Verona and @aksmackenzie was there for #FIFattheGames.
Report ? https://t.co/RUn9tEV7QB#LazioVerona #SerieA pic.twitter.com/6MonEBjdWK
— ForzaItalianFootball (@SerieAFFC) February 5, 2020
Verona threatened first when Thomas Strakosha showed sharp reactions to deny Matteo Pessina from close range, but the visitors’ Marco Silvestri was the busier goalkeeper in the first half as he blocked a Ciro Immobile effort before flying across his goal to tip an Alberto curler wide.
The Spaniard came closest to unlocking the well-organised visiting defence moments before the half-time whistle, when he cut inside and fired a low shot back off the foot of the post with Silvestri rooted to the spot.
Alberto had his hands on his head in disbelief once more just after the hour mark, when his curling effort from the edge of the area hit the outside of the post for the second time.
Fabio Borini almost snatched a late win for Verona when his low shot was directed wide by the fingertips of Strakosha with five minutes remaining, but Alberto came close again at the death with a drilled shot that was beaten away by Silvestri.
Ivan Juric’s side also have a record to celebrate, as they are now unbeaten in seven Serie A matches for the first time in 20 years, since the 1999/00 season under Cesare Prandelli.
