Lazio were outclassed by Igor Tudor’s Hellas Verona this afternoon, losing 4-1 at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Coach Maurizio Sarri wanted to see a strong response from the squad after the goalless draw against Olympique Marseille on Thursday, but instead he could only watch as his side collapsed painfully in Veneto, with Giovanni Simeone netting all four goals to sour the team’s weekend.
Below are the two starting lineups in Hellas Verona vs Lazio (via Lazio):
- Lazio (4-3-3): Pepe Reina; Manuel Lazzari, Patric, Stefan Radu, Elseid Hysaj; Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro; Pedro, Ciro Immobile, Felipe Anderson.
- Hellas Verona (3-4-2-1): Lorenzo Montipo; Pawel Dawidowicz, Koray Gunter, Nicolo Casale; Darko Lazovic, Miguel Veloso, Ivan Ilic, Davide Faraoni; Gianluca Caprari, Antonin Barak, Giovanni Simeone.
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Verona were all over Lazio in the first half and had multiple chances in the opening 20 minutes, leaving the Roman club on the back foot as they attempted to get into the game.
The Gialloblu’s persistence paid off in the 29th minute, when the 26-year-old Simeone netted the opening goal of the game after beating Patric, making it 1-0.
Only minutes later and Hellas Verona’s advantage was doubled, with Reina’s mistake being heavily punished by the Argentinian forward, who netted his second of the game to make it 2-0.
In the 41st minute Lazio’s first genuine chance came, with Immobile’s shot going just wide, much to the frustration of both the fans and coach Sarri.
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The Roman club came out better in the second half and the 31-year-old Immobile finally found the back of the net, giving the team hope as the scoreline became 2-1.
Lazio continued to tried and find an equaliser but the punishing blow came in the 61st minute, when Simeone scored from a counterattack following a mistake by Pedro to make it 3-1.
In the 72nd minute Lazio again came close, this time with Milinkovic-Savic’s hitting the crossbar, but the team still couldn’t find the back of the net.
In the 92nd minute Simeone closed out a wonderful afternoon for Hellas Verona, scoring his fourth of the game to make it 4-1 just before the game drew to a close.
Sarri will have to work hard with the squad to understand the mistakes made today ahead of the club’s next game against Fiorentina next week.