Lazio veteran Pedro came off the bench to earn this team a valuable 2-1 victory over Empoli on the seventh matchday of Serie A.
The Biancocelesti were riding high on confidence after three wins in a row across all competitions, but were dealt with an early blow as their visitors managed to snatch the lead in the 9th minute against the run of play. Giuseppe Pezzella sent a cross from the left flank, and Sebastiano Esposito beat Alessio Romagnoli in the air to place his header past the hesitant Ivan Provedel.
Marco Baroni’s men were desperate to reply, but Boulaye Dia, Taty Castellanos and Gustav Isaksen failed to convert their chances. But in the dying embers of the first half, Nuno Tavares consolidated his status as the best assist-provider in Serie A this season by raising his tally to five. The Portuguese created space for himself with neat dribbling before finding his captain Mattia Zaccagni who placed the ball home with a clinical header.
After the break, Dia won a spot-kick but Castellanos decided to shoot down the middle, and was denied by Devis Vazquez’s trailing legs. Nevertheless, Pedro entered the field in the 73rd minute, and almost ten minutes later, he found the winner with a vicious strike to the near top corner that left the Empoli goalkeeper stranded.
Castellanos and Gaetano Castrovilli both had chances in the added time to kill off the match with a third goal, but the final result remained 2-1. The Biancocelesti have thus climbed to a temporary fourth place in the league standings after earning their fourth victory in a row, and second in the league.
Lazio 2-1 Empoli
Goals: 9′ Esposito (E), 45′+3 Zaccagni (L), 83′ Pedro (L)
Lazio (4-2-3-1): Provedel; Lazzari (38′ Marusic), Gila, Romagnoli, Nuno Tavares (85′ Pellegrini); Guendouzi, Rovella; Isaksen (72′ Pedro), Dia (85′ Castrovilli), Zaccagni (85′ Noslin); Castellanos.
Empoli (3-5-2): Vasquez; Goglichidze, Ismajli, Viti; Esposito (82′ De Sciglio), Solbakken (82′ Colombo).
Yellow cards: Pezzella (E), Fazzini (E), Castellanos (L) , Gyasi (E) , Grassi (E)
