Third would be a miracle, says Reja

Lazio coach Edy Reja said a poor start was to blame for his team’s 3-1 Serie A loss at home to Bologna on Sunday.

The visitors were 2-0 up as early as the 28th minute of the match, thanks to goals from Daniele Portanova and Alessandro Diamanti.

Things went from bad to worse for Lazio when they lost Francesco Matuzalem to a red card four minutes before half-time.

The home side did pull one back through a Matteo Rubin own-goal 11 minutes into the second half, but 60 seconds later they went down to nine players when Alvaro Gonzalez also saw red .

Rene Krhin then finished Lazio off when he bagged Bologna’s third on the hour mark.

“Our attitude was not particularly positive at the start and you pay for that against a dangerous team like Bologna,” Reja said.

“Unfortunately the players I field are always the same ones, as for example Cristian Ledesma and Gonzalez are playing non-stop.”

“In any case, up until Matuzalem’s dismissal we were entirely in the game, then the second red card definitively put an end to our hopes.”

“I don’t think Matuzalem deserved any more than a yellow, as he was just trying to shrug off Alessandro Diamanti.”

“There’s no point crying over spilt milk, though, so we just have to keep going forward.”

“I have to thank the fans, who supported us even when we were left with nine men. Admittedly, Lazio are not in the best condition right now.”

Lazio remain third on the table, inside the Champions League qualification places and two points ahead of Napoli.

Reja, however, has his doubts about whether or not the team will still occupy the same lofty standing come the end of the season.

“To finish third would be a bit of a miracle considering the strength of our rivals,” he said.

“Over the week we have to think of some new options, seeing as I am losing another two midfielders to suspension.”