Lazio were left shaking their heads after a draining 2-2 draw with Sturm Graz in their fourth Europa League group clash.
All four teams were tied on four points in Group F heading into the round of games, and because FC Midtjylland and Feyenoord drew again, all the teams are now tied on five points, leaving the fight for a Round of 16 spot wide open with two games left to play.
Lazio were confident of a strong result at home to Sturm Graz and featured a fairly expected starting lineup, although Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was left on the bench for Toma Basic.
The Roman club took the lead just before half time thanks to a Ciro Immobile penalty, but they didn’t go into the break with a smile as Manuel Lazzari was shown a controversial second yellow card in the dying minutes of the half.
Sturm Graz found an equaliser soon into the second half after a sloppy piece of passing play in midfield from Danilo Cataldi. William Boving found himself in space just outside the penalty area and punted the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal, tying the game up at 1-1.
Pedro was on fire in the match and netted an equally impressive goal in the 71st minute; the 2010 World Cup winner made a deep run and managed to slot the ball into the far corner after a quick one-two with Felipe Anderson.
Unfortunately for Lazio, they couldn’t defend this lead and Boving found his second of the match in the 83rd minute, seemingly skipping through the Biancocelesti defence with ease as his shot glided past Ivan Provedel.
Lazio will have a couple of weeks to focus on Serie A before facing FC Midtjylland on 27th October.
