Lazio held on tight to pick up a point after a tiring 1-1 draw with a determined Fiorentina side.
The Biancocelesti came into the match with a spring in their step after their 4-0 thrashing of defending champions Milan, but a tough test against the Viola saw them run ragged at the Stadio Olimpico, forcing Ivan Provedel and his two centre backs Alessio Romagnoli and Nicolo Casale into action regularly.
Lazio took the lead after just eight minutes after a Casale flick from a corner curled into Pietro Terracciano’s net, putting the home side 1-0 up.
The Biancocelesti made a few more probing attempts as the first half progressed, but failed to find the right combination, leaving them with the slightest of leads heading into the second 45 minutes.
Fiorentina sprung out after the half time break and quickly found an equaliser thanks to Nicolas Gonzalez, whose looping effort from outside the box crept past Provedel, putting the Viola level.
Vincenzo Italiano’s side could smell blood in the water and pushed to try and find a winner, putting Lazio on the back foot.
In the dying minutes of the match, Lazio almost suffered defeat after a Fiorentina cross sailed over the defence and was met by Nikola Milenkovic, who poked it onto the crossbar.
After the positive showings over Sassuolo, Bologna and Milan, Lazio struggled to maintain momentum against Fiorentina and were the happier of the two sides after the full-time whistle.
