Three Things We Learned From AC Milan vs Lazio: The Usual ‘Coincidence’

While a second defeat at San Siro was hardly a shocker, the narrow loss to AC Milan still left Lazio fans both furious and perplexed, not due to the scoreline, but due to the bewildering circumstances that made a mockery out of Italian football as a whole.

Rafael Leao’s solitary goal decided the contest… well, that and some questionable refereeing at the end of the game, which we’ll definitely tackle in our three post-match talking points.

Lazio Get the Short End of the Stick once More

In this column, we rarely discuss refereeing incidents. After all, they say that these episodes eventually even themselves out over the course of the season. And yet, Lazio fans must be wondering if the tide will ever turn in their favor.

In the final minutes of the San Siro battle, we bore witness to one of the most bizarre refereeing decisions, one that was taken after the luxury of a dozen on-field reviews, mind you.

AC Milan 1-0 Lazio: Leao & Maignan Secure Rossoneri Win After Late VAR Controversy

In fairness, the handball on Strahinja Pavlovic gave Giuseppe Collu a tough decision to call, as evidenced by the split opinions of experts and pundits. Nevertheless, it appeared that the match official simply didn’t want to contradict the VAR’s suggestion by refusing to award Lazio a penalty kick, so he ended up inventing a non-existent foul on Adam Marusic!

Therefore, when the dust settled, it was Lazio who got the short end of the stick, in yet another unpleasant ‘coincidence’.

Taty Castellanos Shows Lazio What They Had Been Missing

In the past couple of months, Lazio fans have almost forgotten what it means to rely on a striker for scoring goals. Maurizio Sarri repeatedly praised Boulaye Dia for his willingness to track back and work hard off the ball, but truth be told, the manager had very few reasons to thank the Senegalese besides that.

Some might defend Dia by pointing out the lack of service he received. While this might be a valid argument, the former Salernitana man seemed reluctant to engage in physical duels against big defenders or try to fork out something out of nothing.

Player Ratings: AC Milan 1-0 Lazio – Boulaye Dia Taken Out of His Misery

If Dia’s resigned approach wasn’t glaring enough already, it only took Castellanos a few minutes on the pitch to expose them. The Argentine would have been forgiven had he shown up lacking some intensity after a long layoff, but on the contrary, he looked ready and raring to go, chasing every lost cause and trying to make the most out of half-chances.

While this approach didn’t pay dividends this time, it certainly will in the coming weeks, and we can only expect the whole team to perform better with Taty spearheading the charge. The 27-year-old might not be a world-class bomber, but many top sides would buy him in a heartbeat, including some in Serie A who have been crying out for a tenacious, determined centre-forward to lead the line.

Maurizio Sarri’s Theory Confirmed Once More

Unlike the contest against Inter Milan, Sarri didn’t hold a pre-match press conference this time, so we weren’t reminded of how mediocre this Lazio squad really is. But in reality, the manager didn’t need to do the talking, as his pre-Inter game analysis was once again proven correct by the outcome on the pitch.

Watch: Maignan Denies Lazio as AC Milan Escape With Narrow Win – The Highligths

The Aquile can’t be accused of a lack of effort, as every Lazio player wore his heart on his sleeve, and they almost managed to escape with something out of the game.

However, the gulf in quality between the two sides was on display, especially in the middle of the park, where Matias Vecino, Matteo Guendouzi and Toma Basic were simply outclassed by Luka Modric, Adrien Rabiot and Youssouf Fofana.

Based on the current evidence, qualifying for any European competition would be quite an achievement for Lazio, while a Top Four finish requires another Sarri ‘miracle’… his biggest one yet.