Lazio vs Novara took place at the Stadio Olimpico this afternoon in the Coppa Italia, with Simone Inzaghi’s side breezing to victory over a rather lacklustre Serie C team.
Lazio lined up with a 3-5-2 formation: Thomas Strakosha, Acerbi, Luiz Felipe, Bastos; Lukaku, Luis Alberto, Leiva, Milinkovic-Savic, Marusic; Immobile, Caicedo. Jordan Lukaku made his first start of the season, with the most minutes he had played in a match up to this point at just 27 minutes – amassing a total of 124 minutes over 6 substitute appearances in Serie A. Joaquin Correa was absent due to flu and therefore Inzaghi decided to experiment with a more flat front two of Ciro Immobile and Felipe Caicedo.
The first half went extremely well for the Biancocelesti, with Luis Alberto opening the scoring just 12 minutes in after an assist from Italian forward Ciro Immobile. Immobile then scored Lazio’s second as he converted the rebound from a penalty, after Novara keeper Benedettini saved the initial kick. Immobile added to his tally 15 minutes later in the 35th minute, with Belgian Lukaku getting the assist this time. The fourth goal of the half came in the 2nd minute of added time, with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scoring.
Novara pulled a goal back at the start of the second half, with Eusepi netting a goal almost immediately after play resumed. Aside from some half-chances for Lazio, play slowed down in the 2nd period and Inzaghi made his first changes in the 63rd minute, replacing Luis Alberto and Jordan Lukaku with Valon Berisha and Riza Durmisi respectively. Inzaghi’s final sub came in the 77th minute, when Pedro Neto came on for Adam Marusic; giving the young Portuguese forward a chance to show what he can do. Neto showed some signs of promise but failed to add to Lazio’s 4 goals and the match finished 4-1.
Lazio vs Novara – Match Ratings
Strakosha – 7,
Acerbi – 7,
Luiz Felipe – 7,
Bastos – 6.5,
Lukaku – 7.5,
Luis Alberto – 7.5,
Leiva – 7.5,
Milinkovic-Savic – 7.5,
Marusic – 6.5,
Caicedo – 6.5
Ciro Immobile – 8
Subs: Berisha – 6.5, Durmisi 6, Neto 6.5
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