Lazio managed to maintain the carnival atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico with a last gasp 3-2 win over Serie B bound Cremonese.
The Biancocelesti had already secured Champions League football heading into their clash with the Grigiorossi, and focus had been switched to the 26 May anniversary celebrations, commemorating the team’s historic Coppa Italia final win over rivals Roma back in 2013.
Lazio wore special black and gold kits to commemorate that Coppa Italia derby win and a number of former players were invited to attend the celebrations at the Stadio Olimpico, which weren’t disrupted by the result on the pitch.
It only took four minutes for Lazio to take the lead over Cremonese. A beautiful pass from Luis Alberto was guided by Ciro Immobile to a sprinting Elseid Hysaj, who had no trouble slotting the ball past Mouhamadou Sarr to make it 1-0.
In the 37th minute, the Biancocelesti doubled their advantage after a quick shot from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who perfectly caught Pedro’s low cross to flick it into the Grigiorossi net.
Things could’ve gone wrong for Lazio, however. In the 54th minute, Pablo Galdames drilled a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area past a diving Ivan Provedel to claw one back for the away side, and they didn’t stop there.
Minutes later, the Lombardy outfit were gifted a goal after a puzzling header from Manuel Lazzari unexpectedly floated into the net, despite the fact that there was little pressure on the Italian full back.
The moment risked ruining Lazio’s afternoon, but star man Milinkovic-Savic was there to save the day. With three minutes left to play in the match, a scramble in the box following a corner saw the Serbian midfielder head the ball into an open net, securing all three points for the home side.
Whilst it wasn’t the cleanest victory, Lazio didn’t care as they celebrated the win, the Champions League qualification and the 10th anniversary of their Coppa Italia triumph.
