Ciro Immobile caps great performance with a goal vs Roma / Image via quotidiano.net
Winning against your bitter city rival gives you a special feeling regardless of the competition and Lazio’s 2-0 triumph over AS Roma in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals is bound to be a huge morale-boost and the push in the back for Biancocelesti.
Lazio deservedly emerged out on top of Giallorossi as they continued their impressive run of results in all competitions.
And here is our in-depth match report:
Form Guide & Team News
City rivals Lazio and AS Roma headed into the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals in good spirits and on the back of respective forms which saw them both win four of their last five matches in all competitions.
Lazio have recovered well from back-to-back defeats against Juventus and Chievo, respectively, whereas it’s been all wins for Roma in 2017 with the exception of slumps against Sampdoria in the Serie A and Villarreal in the Europa League.
Both sides did not have significant selection issues prior to the Wednesday’s match, although they were missing a pair of players each. Marchetti and Radu were absent for the nominal hosts, whereas Roma were without Florenzi and Spinozzi.
First Half
AS Roma had most of the ball at their feet with 67% possession to Lazio’s 33%, but ended up doing little to utilize their on-pitch dominance as they failed to put proper pressure on Lazio’s goal for the entire 45 minutes.
Giallorossi did have a couple of chances to open the scoring and go in front in the opening stages of the match, but Edin Dzeko and Marco Parolo were well guarded by Lazio defenders who neutralized the threats in the penalty area within the first ten minutes of the game.
Lazio were quick to lift their heads up and threaten AS Roma after twenty minutes of play when young Serbian starlet Sergej Milinkovic-Savic latched on a cross from the side with a header towards the right-hand post, but Alisson pulled off a superb save to deny his attempt.
Biancocelesti were more direct in their advances towards goal – most notably thanks to dynamic runs from Ciro Immobile, who put in a great display in the first half – and their efforts paid off nine minutes later through a wonderful team play which resulted in aforementioned Sergej Milinkovic-Savic putting his team in front.
The Serbian latched on a perfect low pass to fire a strong sliding shot inside the left post and to earn his team a well-deserved lead at the break as he cleverly used the space inside the box with AS Roma defenders failing to mark the Serbian.
AS Roma did attempt to get back in the game before the half-time whistle, but the in-form Roma striker Edin Dzeko was well-guarded and neutralised by Lazio’s back three.
Second Half
Luciano Spalletti’s men headed into the second half determined to get back in the game as the Roma manager made a couple of changes just over the hour mark, by introducing Perotti and El Shararawy to shake the tempo of the game and get his team going ahead in a more determined fashion.
Lazio decided to sit deep for the most part of the game using every chance they got to break forward and it is a strategy that paid off in the end for the nominal hosts in this openly-contested clash between bitter city rivals.
Inzaghi’s side were extremely organized in the back throughout the game, which offered great confidence to Lazio midfielders and attack to hit Roma hard.
Binacocelesti managed to put the ball in the back of the net eight minutes after the hour mark but Ciro Immobile’s goal was ruled off due to an offside position. The in-form striker got a reward for his fine display against Roma ten minutes later however, when he made it 2-0 for the home side with his 7th goal in last 10 games for Biancocelesti.
It was second-half substitute Balde Keita who did all the hard work as he used his explosive pace to leave Kostas Manolas trailing in his wake and break into the penalty box from the left-hand side before firing the ball behind towards the unmarked Ciro Immobile.
Lazio striker had no problems tapping the ball in and was highly appreciative of his teammate’s effort as the two celebrated the tangible lead acquired in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, which puts Lazio in a strong position ahead of the return leg.
Statistical Overview
- Felipe Anderson recorded his 10th assist this season, a joint record in Serie A
- Ciro Immobile scored 7 goals in last 10 appearances for Lazio
- Roma suffered second defeat in last three matches in all competitions
- Roma ended the match with 66% possession to Lazio’s 34%
- Giallorossi ultimately made 20 goal attempts, but only 3 shots on target
LAZIO: Strakosha 7 – Bastos 7.5, de Vrij 7.5, Wallace 7.5 – Basta 7, Parolo 7, Biglia 7.5, Milinkovic-Savic 8 (Murgia 6), Lukaku 7 (Crecco 6) – Anderson 7.5 (Keita 7), Immobile 7.5
Unused subs: Adamonis, Alberto, Djordjevic, Hoedt, Lombardi, Mohamed, Spizzichino, Vargic.
AS ROMA: Alisson 7 – Rudiger 6.5, Fazio 6.5, Manolas 6 – Peres 6.5 (Totti 6), Paredes 6.5 (Perotti 6.5), Strootman 7, Emerson 6 – Salah 6.5 (El Shaarawy 6), Nainggolan 6 – Dzeko 6
Unused subs: Lobont, Szczesny, De Rossi, Grenier, Jesus, Rui, Gerson, Vermaelen.
REFEREE: Massimiliano Irrati
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