Lazio fell to a familiar foe in their 2023-24 season opener, losing on the road to a fired up Lecce.
The Biancocelesti only picked up one point in their two league outings against the Puglian outfit last season and their hopes of changing that this campaign were quickly dashed at the Via Del Mare.
Lazio did lose star man Sergej Milinkovic-Savic earlier this summer but have picked up five reinforcements – Valentin Castellanos, Daichi Kamada, Gustav Isaksen, Luca Pellegrini and Nicolo Rovella.
Maurizio Sarri lined up his strongest XI on a warm Sunday evening in Puglia, starting regulars like Ciro Immobile, Luis Alberto and Alessio Romagnoli, as well as new arrival Kamada. Fellow new signings Isaksen, Pellegrini and Castellanos came on in the second half to make their debuts.
Lazio were mostly in control in the opening stages of their clash with Lecce and secured the opener in the 25th minute.
A beautifully placed pass from Romagnoli was met by a darting Luis Alberto, whose quick feet allowed him to play the ball across the penalty area to Immobile, who in turn poked the ball past a diving Wladimiro Falcone.
The Biancocelesti mostly maintained this momentum for the remainder of the second half but were unable to double their advantage, something that would come back to haunt them later in the night.
Lecce hit the ground running in the second half and looked comfortable in possession, even if Lazio did have a few wayward chances as the clocked ticked.
The home side’s resilience was finally rewarded in the 85th minute, when an unmarked Pontus Almqvist deftly controlled the ball from the outside of the box before slotting it past Ivan Provedel, drawing Lecce level.
Only two minutes later, Lecce pounced again after a scramble in the penalty area, with Federico Di Francesco managing to guide the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
Lazio were unable to respond in the closing stages of the match, leaving them empty-handed and dejected after a tiring and hot evening in the south of Italy.
