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Tag: Lazio

  • Mourinho blasts referee, VAR after Roma lose derby to Lazio

    Mourinho blasts referee, VAR after Roma lose derby to Lazio

    Jose Mourinho blamed the referee and VAR for AS Roma’s 3-2 defeat to rivals Lazio in Serie A on Sunday, saying his side were dominant in spite of the result.

    It was the Portuguese manager’s second loss since taking charge of the Italian side in the summer and Lazio led from the 10th minute until the final whistle.

    However, Mourinho was unhappy about a potential foul in the build-up to Lazio’s second goal, scored by former Roma winger Pedro after 19 minutes.

    He felt Lucas Leiva should have received a second booking after seeing Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini sent off against Udinese on Thursday.

    “Italian football has improved a lot. But unfortunately, the referee and VAR were not at the right level for this fantastic match,” Mourinho told reporters.

    “On the 2-0 goal it could have been 1-1, the referee and VAR made a mistake. This is too much.

    “The lack of a second yellow for Leiva is also important. It was a similar situation to Pellegrini, he got a red but today there was nothing.

    “We were the better team on the pitch. Obviously when you concede three goals, something has gone wrong, but the second and third were counter-attacks.

    “We tried, we dominated. We gave everything and put Lazio in difficulty,” Mourinho said.

    Roma, who are fourth in Serie A, face Zorya next in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday, before hosting Empoli in the league.

  • Lazio Squad In Quarantine After COVID-19 Positives

    Lazio Squad In Quarantine After COVID-19 Positives

    Lazio, already deprived of several players, announced on Saturday that it had put its entire squad in quarantine after positive coronavirus tests. 

    Lazio fielded a depleted team in Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday and drew 1-1 without last season’s top European scorer Ciro Immobile and midfielders Luis Alberto, Manuel Lazzari, Lucas Leiva and Djavan Anderson.

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    The club said in a statement on Saturday that it had conducted a further round of tests on Friday.

    “Some members of the team group tested positive,” it said without giving any names.

    It is the first time Lazio has explicitly confirmed cases of Covid-19 in its squad after talking about “doubtful” tests during the week, even though it omitted players from its squad.

    “The whole team will repeat today’s checks in order to identify the players that can be used in tomorrow’s match between Turin and Lazio,” the club said.

    “The positive results were placed in isolation at home while the team will observe a period of quarantine under active supervision by the medical staff.”

    Lazio are 12th in the Italian Championship and travel to Petersburg to play Zenit in the Champions League on Wednesday.

  • Blunders prove decisive as Lazio and Roma share derby spoils

    Blunders prove decisive as Lazio and Roma share derby spoils

    Lazio’s 11-match winning run in Serie A ended on Sunday following a 1-1 derby draw with AS Roma that was decided by two goalkeeping errors.

    Thomas Strakosha misjudged a cross to allow Roma’s Edin Dzeko to head in the opener after 26 minutes.

    But Lazio were level just eight minutes later when Pau Lopez failed to gather his own punch before Francesco Acerbi tapped in.

    Roma came closest to clinching the win when Lorenzo Pellegrini curled a shot off the post, but Simone Inzaghi’s side held on to stretch their unbeaten league run to 15 games.

    Lazio are on 46 points, two behind second-placed Inter Milan and with a game in hand while Roma have 39 points, one ahead of Atalanta.(Reuters/NAN)

  • Lazio turn Serie A into three-horse race after exposing Juve cracks

    Lazio turn Serie A into three-horse race after exposing Juve cracks

    Lazio will attempt to chalk up their ninth consecutive league win when they visit lowly Brescia on Sunday as they threaten to turn Serie A into a three-horse race.

    Third-placed Lazio have moved six points off the leading pair of Inter Milan and Juventus with a game in hand.

    But, more importantly, they have exposed chinks in Juve’s armour by beating the Turin side twice in the space of just over two weeks.

    They handed Juventus a first defeat of the season, beating them 3-1 at home in Serie A.

    They then overcame them by the same score in the annual Super Cup match played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

    Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri was surprisingly generous in his praise of Lazio, who he said were experiencing a “magical moment”.

    “If they carry on like this, there’s not much for anyone else to do.

    “For me, right now, physically and mentally, they are the best team in Europe,” said Sarri, who coaches a team with far superior spending power to Lazio.

    Juventus, chasing a ninth successive title, host Cagliari, the season’s other surprise package, on Monday as Serie A resumes after the two-week Christmas break.

    Inter Milan are away to Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli.

    But Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio have always been a dangerous side.

    Two seasons ago, they played some of the best football in the league.

    But their small squad ran out of steam towards the end of the season and they missed out on the UEFA Champions League in their final match.

    Last year, they won the Coppa Italia, even though they could manage only a modest eighth place in Serie A.

    This season they have found a consistency that was previously lacking, helped by an uncanny ability to grind out late and dramatic wins.

    During their winning run, they scored twice in stoppage time as they came from behind to beat Cagliari 2-1 away and they also beat Sassuolo by the same score, thanks to a stoppage-time winner.

    The run began when an 89th-minute goal from Ciro Immobile, Serie A’s leading scorer with 17 goals, gave them a 2-1 win at Fiorentina.

    Also, an 83rd-minute goal brought them their first away win at AC Milan for 31 years.

    Their surprising group stage exit in the UEFA Europa League, where they finished behind Celtic and Cluj in their group, could also be a blessing in disguise.

    Inzaghi, however, is under no illusions.

    “We know that there will be more attention on us from now on.

    “We know that in football you can never take your foot off the pedal.

    “We know that we have done well, but we need to start the new year better than we finished the old one,” he said during an event in Dubai last month.(Reuters/NAN)