Lazio’s poor performances after European clashes continues with 2-1 loss to Sassuolo yesterday.
The Roman club took an early lead thanks to Mattia Zaccagni but a lethargic second half saw the Biancocelesti drop behind after two quick goals from Domenico Berardi and Giacomo Raspadori, leaving coach Maurizio Sarri with another loss to analyse.
Below are the two starting lineup’s in Lazio’s 2-1 Serie A loss to Sassuolo:
- Sassuolo (4-3-3): Andrea Consigli; Jeremy Toljan, Vlad Chiriches, Gian Marco Ferrari, Rogerio; Davide Frattesi, Maxime Lopez, Hamed Traoré; Domenico Berardi, Gianluca Scamacca, Giacomo Raspadori
- Lazio (4-3-3): Thomas Strakosha: Elseid Hysaj, Luiz Felipe, Francesco Acerbi, Adam Marusic; Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro, Danilo Cataldi, Toma Basic; Pedro, Ciro Immobile, Mattia Zaccagni.
The game had barely kicked off before Lazio found themselves ahead, with Zaccagni finishing a move by Pedro after only six minutes to make it 1-0.
Despite their early advantage, the Roman club were often on the back foot in the first half, with Sassuolo having a variety of chances thanks to Scamacca, Raspadori and Frattesi.
Strakosha performed well, however, keeping Lazio in the game with multiple important saves, further putting his stamp on the starting spot.
Lazio went into the half-time break 1-0 up, a relief considering the onslaught that they’d been fighting against for the majority of the first 45 minutes.
Sassuolo started the second half well and had two early chances thanks to Scamacca, Berardi and Raspadori, with the Neroverdi front three combining perfectly.
Zaccagni had a decent long shot in the 61st minute following a pass from Immobile, but it was not enough to beat Consigli.
Disaster struck moments later; Berardi beat Acerbi as the ball came in from a corner and he found the space to beat Strakosha, tying the game up 1-1 at 63 minutes.
Five minutes later the Neroverdi doubled their advantage, with Raspadori’s right-footed shot beating the Lazio goalkeeper to make it 2-1 at 69 minutes.
Lazio tried to react to their deficit but Sassuolo did well to neutralise the Biancocelesti’s attempts, frustrating coach Sarri.
In the 87th minute Kaan Ayhan was sent off after stopping a Vedat Muriqi counter attack, but the man advantage would not prove too troublesome for coach Alessio Dionisi.
Lazio’s final real chance came in the 89th minute, when a Basic free kick hit the crossbar, a hair-pulling end to a frustrating match for the Roman club.
