On Saturday, December 5, 2020, the Orogel Stadium Dino Manuzzi hosted Spezia vs Lazio in Matchday 10 of the 2020/21 Serie A.
The final score was a 2-1 victory in favour of the Biancocelesti; Lazio’s record is now 5W-2D-3L (17 points) in the top flight of Italian football.
Referees
The Head Referee for this clash was Daniele Chiffi, the Assistant Referees were Di Iorio and Muto, the Fourth Official was Di Martino, and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was Massa with the assistance of Ranghetti.
Managers
Spezia: Vincenzo Italiano
Lazio: Simone Inzaghi
Starting Lineups & Substitutions
Spezia (4-3-3): Provedel; Sala, Terzi, Chabot, Bastoni (46′ Marchizza); Estevez (90+1′ Piccoli), Ricci, Maggiore (65′ Deiola); Farias (65′ Agudelo), Nzola (90+1′ Mastinu), Gyasi
Lazio (3-5-2): Reina; Luiz Felipe (89′ Hoedt), Acerbi, Radu; Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic (77′ Parolo), Lucas Leiva (77′ Escalante), Luis Alberto (60′ Akpa Akpro), Marusic; Pereira, Immobile (59′ Caicedo)
Goalscorers
Spezia: Nzola (64′)
Lazio: Immobile (15′), Milinkovic-Savic (33′)
Yellow Carded
Spezia: Bastoni, Terzi, Ricci
Lazio: Akpa Akpro
Player Ratings
Inzaghi 6.5 | Reina 6.5; Luiz Felipe 5.5 (Hoedt 6), Acerbi 5.5, Radu 5.5; Lazzari 6, Milinkovic-Savic 8 (Parolo 6), Lucas Leiva 6 (Escalante 6), Luis Alberto 6 (Akpa Akpro 6), Marusic 6; Pereira 6.5, Immobile 7.5 (Caicedo 6)
Recap
Lazio entered this match on the back of a hard-fought 1-1 draw in the UEFA Champions League against Borussia Dortmund; Spezia was coming off of a 2-2 draw against Cagliari (whereby they equalized in the final minutes of the match from a penalty kick).
The Biancocelesti were heavily favoured to win this match due to their dominant record against newly-promoted sides; they secured all three points with a 2-1 victory (with goals from Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic) despite a strong performance from Vincenzo Italiano’s men.
Lazio’s first goal came in the 15′ from Ciro Immobile. After Milinkovic-Savic had won the ball in the middle of the park, he played the Italian striker through on goal and he made no mistake in slotting the ball home past goalkeeper Ivan Provedel.
The away side’s second goal came just after the 30′ through a spectacular free-kick from Milinkovic-Savic. On a counter from the right flank, Manuel Lazzari played Immobile in on goal, but he was tripped by a Spezia defender. While Simone Inzaghi and his men protested for a red card, a yellow card was all that was given to Claudio Terzi; however, they would not care too much as minutes later, the Serbian international smashed home a beautifully taken strike over the wall and into the top left corner.
The home side’s only goal came in the 64′ through M’Bala Nzola. One-on-one with Francesco Acerbi, he cut inside on his preferred left foot and curled home a shot that was out of Pepe Reina’s reach. This gave Spezia hope, but Lazio managed to hold on to secure victory.
It’s also important to note that the Biancocelesti had two goals disallowed by VAR. Felipe Caicedo and Andreas Periera both netted goals but they were deemed offside by a matter of margins after the fact.
