After back to back wins for Lazio – over Genoa in the Serie A and Rennes in the UEFA Europa League – the Biancocelesti faced off against Bologna in Matchday 7 of the Serie A. Everyone at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara gave a very warm welcome to Bologna manager Sinisa Mihajlovic who is currently battling leukemia. There was also a moment of silence before the match for the recent passing of Sassuolo president Giorgio Squinzi.
Match official Daniele Orsato blew his whistle to kick off the match. A little over twenty minutes into the first half, the home side struck first. Riccardo Orsolini’s cross found the head of Ladislav Krejci who buried it. Bologna 1-0 Lazio. However, Simone Inzaghi’s men quickly responded quickly – less than two minutes later to be exact – with an equalizer coming from none other than Ciro Immobile who slotted the ball in the bottom left corner. Bologna 1-1 Lazio. Less than ten minutes later, Bologna went back on top as a shot curled passed Thomas Strakosha. It hit the post but landed right at the feet Rodrigo Palacio who had a clear empty net but looked hesitant and likely to miss. Luckily, once the Argentine striker finally decided to shoot, the ball hit off Strakosha and redirected off the post and into the net. Bologna 2-0 Lazio. Once again, the Biancocelesti responded back right away, as Immobile got his second of the game, with a lovely pass and play between him and Luis Alberto. The Italian slotted the ball into the net despite a very difficult angle. Bologna 2-2 Lazio. The rest of the first half ended with back and forth play between both sides, but it stayed 2-2 heading into the break.
Unfortunately, the second half did not go as planned for Lazio. Within a span of ten minutes, Lucas Leiva received two yellows to get sent off by the match official who, all throughout this game, was not shy to give anyone a booking. Just like that, Lazio was down to ten men with plenty of time to play. Inzaghi made a very crucial decision to take off Immobile in order to replace the now missing defensive midfielder. The balance was restored soon after as Joaquin Correa looked clear on the break but was stopped in his tracks by Gary Medel. The match official initially gave Medel a yellow card but after outbursts from the Lazio players and a VAR review, the decision was changed to a straight red. Lazio finally saw a breakthrough as they were on the counter-attack and Francesco Acerbi was taken down in the box. Since the usual penalty kick taker, Ciro Immobile was taken off, the fate of three points rested in the hands of Correa. He stepped up to take the penalty, struck the ball, but was denied the winning goal by the crossbar.
The match official blew his whistle to put an end to such a dramatic game between the two sides. Lazio only managed to get a point from this game, despite looking likely to win after a last-minute penalty kick was given in their favor. Lazio currently sits in 6th place, one point behind city rivals Roma (who drew 1-1 to Cagliari).
