Fresh from putting Borussia Dortmund to the sword in the Champions League in midweek, Lazio secured a Serie A victory with a hard-fought 2-1 triumph over Bologna on Saturday.
The Aquile laboured in the first half but eventually broke the deadlock early in the second period as Luis Alberto thundered a strike from the edge of the box off the underside of the crossbar.
Ciro Immobile doubled the advantage after heading in from Mohamed Fares’ acrobatic cutback, whilst Lorenzo De Silvestri netted a consolation in injury time for the visitors.
Lazio build on European high
It is fair to say that Lazio have struggled to replicate their sparkling pre-lockdown form so far this season, having been trounced by Atalanta 4-1 and suffered a damaging 3-0 defeat to Sampdoria last week.
However, the Biancoceleste marked a first outing in the Champions League for 13 years with a truly magnificent 3-1 win over Bundesliga powerhouse Dortmund on Tuesday, and it will have been of great relief to coach Simone Inzaghi that his squad could build on that performance.
Although made to sweat by a hardworking Bologna side, who had a goal chalked off in the first half and rattled the crossbar through Riccardo Orsolini’s freekick, Lazio put in a professional display and were worth their 2-1 win. With attention geared towards a Champions League trip to Club Brugge on Wednesday, taking all three points domestically was a must to keep up momentum.
Bologna lurch towards unwanted record
Bologna fans, look away now. The Rossoblu’s defensive nightmare lurched from bad to worse in the capital on Saturday, as they made it 38 league matches without a clean sheet.
Having failed to keep an opponent out for 13 months, the Veltri have now equalled MSV Duisburg’s unwanted record for the longest streak in Europe’s top five leagues, set in 1975.
Whilst they looked solid enough for much of the encounter on Saturday, crucial defensive errors were once again they’re undoing, with Danilo following up a wonderful last-ditch challenge in the box by inexplicably passing straight to Luis Alberto moments later to open the scoring.
Likewise, chaotic defending from a wide freekick allowed Fares to meet a Vedat Muriqi flick on at the back post and hook back for the unmarked Immobile to nod in.
Without a clean sheet since a goalless draw at Genoa on 25 September 2019, Bologna have shipped 69 goals in their wretched streak and will be desperate to avoid further ignominy when Cagliari visit next weekend.
