Lazio 1-1 Torino
It was honours even in a red-blooded Serie A clash at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome as Lazio and Torino battled out a draw and ended up with ten men each.
Andrea Belotti put the visitors ahead before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic levelled brilliantly, but the referee was the busiest man on the pitch: he handed out ten cards as neither side took any prisoners.
With Juventus on a superb run at the top of the league, much of the Serie A 2018 betting action is centred on the top four. The Bianconeri’s earlier 2-1 win over fifth-placed Sampdoria gave Lazio a little breathing space at kick-off, and eighth-placed Torino a chance to climb the table. And they both went for it!
Highlights of the game
So with all to play for, it was Lazio who came out on the attack by winning a succession of corners and trying to pin the visitors back in their own half. But Torino came so close to opening the scoring on 16 minutes when Cristian Ansaldi put in a superb cross which Lorenzo De Silvestri met well, but his header crashed against the crossbar.
That sparked more activity from the hosts. Marco Parolo had a couple of efforts on goal, but Ansaldi threatened the Lazio defence again by taking a ball from Iago Falque and firing towards the top-left corner. Unfortunately, his long-range effort well saved by Thomas Strakosha. At the other end, young midfield maestro Sergej Milinkovic-Savic fed Adam Marusic but his shot was blocked, and then Ciro Immobile brought a great save out of Salvatore Sirigu when his shot flew towards the top-right corner.
Il Torro are a hard nut to crack and only narrowly lost the Turin derby by a single goal recently. They looked to be heading in all square at the break after Immobile came close again. But it got even better for the hosts in first half’s added time when Andrea Belotti was fouled by Adam Marusic in the penalty area and the ref pointed to the spot.
Torino’s top scorer picked himself up to fire a clinical spot-kick into the bottom-right corner, beyond the reach of Strakosha.
One ahead at the break was more than Torino could realistically have hoped for, but Belotti very nearly doubled the lead after a quiet opening to the second period: he got on the end of a free-kick from Daniele Baselli, but his shot from six yards squeezed past the right-hand post. That sparked a response from Lazio, and, Sirigu had to get down well when Lucas Leiva put in Joaquin Correa to save the Argentine’s snapshot.
But there wasn’t much he could do when Leiva nodded the ball down to Milinkovic-Savic just outside the penalty area. The Serb smashed a beauty into the top left-hand corner to make it 1-1. The ‘Sergeant’ is an ever-growing presence in Serie A and SBOBET football, and he certainly made his mark on this game.
Lazio pressed on, and Immobile forced another good low save from Sirigu before Luis Alberto headed wide from a Marusic cross. As the game swung from end to end, Francesco Acerbi had an effort from a tight angle blocked, and Torino’s Soualiho Meite’s shot had the same fate. With the clock ticking down, Belotti had another effort charged down, and then the visitors hit the woodwork again on 83 minutes.
Iago Falque swung in a corner met by Lorenzo de Silvestri, and the midfielder’s header struck the post as the fans in the away end leapt to their feet.
Having conceded the penalty which gave Torino the lead, Marusic’s day ended in further angst when he was sent off with five minutes remaining. Then the ref evened things up on 90 minutes, dismissing Meite as tempers in Rome frayed.
Key Statistics
Lazio started the game in fourth place and they got the result needed to stay there. They had the better of the first half with 53 per cent possession and nine shots to Torino’s six. But the hosts tellingly only had one shot on target to Torino’s three.
Lazio had more attempts on target in the second half, winning the shot count by 17 to 12, but Torino dished out the most fouls; an impressive 22 fouls to Lazio’s 19 with both sides earning four yellow cards and one red.
What’s next?
With almost the full set of Serie A 2018 results in the bag, Lazio are fourth and can now take a breather before returning in the New Year. Simone Inzaghi’s team faces lower league opposition in the Coppa Italia Round of 16, hosting Novara.
Torino host Fiorentina a day later in the Coppa, a fascinating middle-of-Serie A clash.
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