Roma 1-3 Lazio: 5 Things We Learned From an Impressive Lazio Victory

Lazio emerged victorious with a dominating performance against Roma. Image: Getty

Lazio put on a great display to dispatch city rivals Roma in the Derby della Capitale. Here are five things we learned from a thrilling encounter.

5. Napoli Can Capitalize

Napoli are four points behind Roma, but they have a game in hand — one that will be played later today against Inter. It’ll be an important one, and should they win, a one point gap means that it would be an incredibly tight race for that direct qualification spot into the Champions League. Roma certainly don’t want to go back there, where they suffered a humiliating defeat to Porto in the Best Placed Playoff. Who will get second? We don’t know, but it should be quite the ride to find out.

4. End for Totti?

Was it Totti’s last derby? Rumors have been spreading over the Italian veteran’s retirement, and this season may just be his last. He played a total of 17 minutes during the match, a final fanfare for the legend we’ve come to know. While Totti hasn’t been able to repeat his goal scoring magic from last year, he is a rock, a leader for the team, and an idol for most of the league. Totti has had an incredible career in the league and internationally, and he deserves to be recognized for his incredible accomplishments and loyalty to his team, a sort of Maldini-esque player.

3. Controversy in the Capital

There was a lot of controversy over Roma’s supposed penalty in the second half. Orsato pointed to the spot, but video replay clearly showed that Strootman was not touched at all before falling to the ground. It was a horrible decision from the referee, but Lazio did get the win they deserved thanks to a good performance and two second half goals.

2. Keita on Fire

Keita continued his blistering form with a two goal performance, taking his tally up to five in the last two games. The winger is in high demand from other clubs as he doesn’t seem to want to remain at Lazio, and his value seems to be getting higher and higher as he racks up the performances. Lazio have to thank the Senegalese for the victory, and it was a good one, both because of the rivalry and the standing in the league.

1. Congrats to Juve!

With Roma’s loss today, Juventus have all but won the Serie A title for a fifth consecutive time. They sit nine points ahead of Roma with four games left to go, and they’ll focus their attention on the Champions League now, a competition that they a good shot of winning. It’s been complete dominance from the Bianconeri recently, and no side seems to be able to pose a viable threat to their title run.

Roma XI: Szczesny 5.5; Rudiger 3.5, Manolas 4, Fazio 5 (Perotti 64′, N/A ), Emerson 5.5; Strootman 5, De Rossi 5 (Totti 73′, N/A), Nainggolan 4.5; Salah 4, Dzeko 4.5, El Sharaawy 4.5 (Peres 46′, 5.5 )

Unused Subs: Alisson, Lobont, Juan, Vermaelen, Rui, Gerson, Grenier, Paredes

Lazio XI: Strakosha 6.5; Bastos 7, De Vrij 6.5(Hoedt 74′, N/A), Wallace 6.5; Basta 7.5, Parolo 6, Biglia 6, Lulic 6.5, Lukaku 6.5 (Anderson 43′, 6.5); Milinkovic Savic 7; Keita 7.5 (Dordevic 87′, N/A)

Unused Subs: Adamonis, Vargic, Radu, Patric, Murgia, Crecco, Alberto, Lombardi

Referee: Daniele Orsato