Spezia 0-3 Lazio: Immobile, Anderson and Antonio send Lazio eight points clear of Roma in Serie A
Spezia 0-3 Lazio: Ciro Immobile’s controversial penalty, Felipe Anderson’s second and Marcos Antonio’s strike send Lazio eight points clear of rivals Roma in second… as Ethan Ampadu SENT OFF for hosts
- Immobile netted his 10th goal of the Serie A season in the first half with a penalty
- Anderson added a second before substitute Antonio netted a late third
- Lazio take a comfortable lead in second place, eight points ahead of rivals Roma
Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio increased their lead on rivals AS Roma in second place to eight points with a 3-0 victory over Spezia on Friday night.
Ethan Ampadu was penalised for a challenge on Felipe Anderson on the 34th minute, with the referee giving a controversial penalty as the Welshman appeared to get the ball.
However, VAR opted against intervening as the penalty decision was not claimed to be a clear or obvious error by the officials.
Ciro Immobile converted from the penalty spot, drilling the ball into the bottom left corner to send the Bartlomiej Dragowski the wrong way, making it his 10th Serie A goal of the season.
Lazio made it 2-0 with a brilliant passing move, playing one and two touch football into the Spezia box before Anderson finishes past the goalkeeper inside the box.
Ethan Ampadu was penalised despite appearing to have won the ball from Felipe Anderson
Ciro Immobile converted from the spot to net his 10th Serie A goal of the season
Felipe Anderson added a second goal of the match to put Lazio in control of the tie
Things went from bad to worse for Spezia as Ampadu was dismissed for a second bookable offence with just six minutes remaining of the match.
Substitute Marcos Antonio netted his first goal with just minutes to go as Lazio broke and the Brazilian rounded Dragowski to score.
The result sees Sarri’s side take an eight-point lead on their city rivals Roma, with Jose Mourinho’s men hosting Udinese tomorrow.
While Lazio are unlikely to catch runaway leaders Napoli, sitting 13 points behind, they will no doubt be proud of their season so far.
The victory was the visitor’s 18th of the season as they scored their 47th, 48th and 49th goal in just 30 matches.
For Spezia, a victory wasn’t crucial but with Verona sitting on 22 points and with a game in hand, they could see the gap closed to just two points tomorrow.
A relegation fight remains on for Leonardo Semplici and his men and they will be without Ampadu for the next match after his dismissal.
It remains to be seen as to whether they can beat the drop with eight games left to retain their Serie A status.
