STADIO ENNIO TARDINI (Parma) – Lazio took full advantage of Juventus’ slip in Verona as they left Parma with all three points on Sunday evening.
Coming up against stern opposition in Roberto D’Aversa’s Crociati, Lazio were never going to have it easy and they were made to fight until the very end for their win.
Felipe Caicedo got the game’s only goal in the first half and while the Biancocelesti missed their fair share of chances before getting the opener, they were made to sweat late on.
Lazio had to fight and they had luck on their side as they beat Parma 1-0 to go just one point off top and @ConJClancy was there for #FIFattheGames.
Report ? https://t.co/HEhZVgb7lM#ParmaLazio #SerieA pic.twitter.com/knYuv9TXGv
— ForzaItalianFootball (@SerieAFFC) February 9, 2020
Winning in different ways
Lazio have become the kings of late wins under Simone Inzaghi this season and they’ve earned more points than anyone in the final 15 minutes of games this season, becoming a firm favourite with punters scouring Paddy Power offers for 2020 this season.
Even after the 89th minute of matches nobody has picked up more points, but they got the decisive strike considerably earlier in Emilia-Romagna.
After a tricky couple of weeks in which they’ve dropped points against Roma and Hellas Verona, they managed to get over the line despite coming under pressure.
Caicedo’s strike came in the 41st minute, giving them the majority of the game to hold out and they very nearly fell short.
Riccardo Gagliolo had enough chances himself to turn the game on its head and Thomas Strakosha will be happy that so many of Parma’s chances fell to the defender.
But they also rode their luck and D’Aversa was left seething afterwards as he felt his side should have been awarded penalties for fouls on Bruno Alves and Andreas Cornelius.
The latter, in particular, sparked an eruption around the Tardini as the Dane was dragged to ground in the six-yard box in stoppage time.
Nothing was given though and Lazio held on and resisted, even after Dejan Kulusevski’s introduction.
Inzaghi’s side have shown they can blow teams away, they’ve proven their ability to scrap and persist until breaking through late on, and now they’ve shown they can lead and resist to see a game out.
The relief was clear
Lazio’s celebrations showing how hard this win was to come by. Are they in a title race? One point off top. You’d better believe they are! #ParmaLazio pic.twitter.com/Bl8U8iIzyF
— Conor Clancy (@ConJClancy) February 9, 2020
It may have been an expected win on the road, but the celebrations on the pitch afterwards showed just how big a result this was for Lazio.
The players were jubilant and celebrated in front of their travelling supporters with more joy than they show most weeks.
Dancing and saluting the Curva Sud, it was clear that these three points meant more to the Biancocelesti, and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that they have the belief needed to go all the way in this title race.
