Lazio were forced to apologise to angry fans after they again dropped points in a frustrating 1-1 draw with Monza.
The Biancocelesti have failed to impress in the early weeks of the new season, losing to Lecce, Genoa and Juventus.
Some confidence was generated from the 2-1 win away to Napoli as well as the 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, but the expected response wasn’t seen against Monza.
Raffaele Palladino’s side haven’t managed to click this term, winning just once themselves against Empoli whilst losing to Inter and Atalanta. They also dropped points in a 1-1 draw with Lecce.
Maurizio Sarri lined up a strong Lazio squad against Monza, starting regular stars like Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto alongside new signings Matteo Guendouzi and Gustav Isaksen.
Lazio started the match on the front foot and won a penalty in the 11th minute after Mattia Zaccagni was brought down in the box. Immobile made no mistake from 12 yards out, calmly dispatching the spot kick to the bottom left corner of Michele Di Gregorio’s net.
Monza refused to lie down, however, and began pushing for an equaliser for the remainder of the first half. Their efforts were rewarded in the 36th minute, when a low-pass in the penalty area was met by Roberto Gagliardini, who guided a shot past Ivan Provedel to level things out at 1-1.
Lazio showed some positive signs in the second half and were brutally unlucky when Immobile’s 57th minute shot ricocheted off the far post. Other than this, Sarri’s side rarely looked capable of netting the winner, dampening the mood at the Stadio Olimpico.
After the full time whistle, the players were loudly jeered by large sections of the home crowd, prompting them to walk over to the Curva Nord to apologise.
