Reuters – Ciro Immobile scored his 13th league goal of the season to seal a 2-1 comeback win for Lazio against Sassuolo on Sunday and clinch a fourth consecutive Serie A win for the Roman club.
Francesco Caputo fired the visitors ahead after just six minutes, but Lazio responded strongly and a powerful header from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic drew them level midway through the first half.
Simone Inzaghi’s side completed their comeback in the 71st minute when Adam Marusic picked out Immobile in the box to find the corner with a calm finish.
The Italy international, who won the European Golden Boot last season, is now second only to Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 15 goals, in the Serie A scoring charts.
Lazio remain in seventh place, but drew level with Napoli on 34 points and are three points behind third-placed AS Roma in a tight-knit group.
Sassuolo drop to ninth place on 30 points and have one win in their last five league games.
Hellas Verona came from behind to stun Napoli with a 3-1 home win on Sunday despite Hirving Lozano having scored the visitors’ fastest-ever Serie A goal after nine seconds.
The Mexican winger pounced on a missed clearance by Federico Dimarco to fire into the net moments after kick-off.
However, Napoli could not make their early advantage count and Dimarco made up for his earlier error by tucking in a Davide Faraoni cross to equalise in the 34th minute.
Verona completed the turnaround with an Antonin Barak strike after 62 minutes and Mattia Zaccagni header 11 minutes from time to secure a victory that compounded Napoli’s misery following their midweek Italian Super Cup defeat by Juventus.
Napoli are sixth with 34 points from 18 matches, nine behind league leaders AC Milan but with a game in hand, while Verona are 10th on 30 points from 19 matches.
Juventus got their Serie A title defence back on track with a 2-0 home win over Bologna on Sunday that moved Andrea Pirlo’s side into the top four. Arthur Melo scored his first goal for the Turin club in the first half with a deflected strike and the American midfielder Weston McKennie headed home the second on 71 minutes.
The Talking Points
CONTE IN HOT WATER OVER REFEREE RAGE
Antonio Conte wasn’t happy at the end of Inter Milan’s 0-0 draw at Udinese on Saturday.
His side struggled to break down a team they were expected to beat, but in doing so they also squandered the chance to go top of the standings and be crowned winter champions after AC Milan were thrashed 3-0 by Atalanta.
Conte’s frustration told when he was sent off for dissent near the end, and Sky Sport reported that he was later heard shouting at referee Fabio Maresca: “It’s always you, even at the VAR, always you.”
Maresca responded by telling the coach: “You need to accept when you don’t manage to win.”
Conte said that he had simply protested the amount of stoppage time awarded, adding that: “the referee has to take his decisions and we have to accept them, even if we don’t agree.”
The Inter coach will soon find out the cost of his outburst, with Gazzetta dello Sport suggesting he is likely to be suspended for more than one game for the altercation.
UNDER-FIRE FONSECA DEMANDS RESPECT
AS Roma coach Paulo Fonseca went into Saturday’s game against Spezia under scrutiny following a heavy defeat by Lazio and a shock Coppa Italia exit to Spezia.
Some media reports claimed that the Portuguese was on the verge of losing his job, and he needed a win to calm the waters when his side faced Spezia for the second time in five days.
In the subsequent seven-goal thriller, Roma surrendered a 3-1 lead as Spezia levelled in the 90th minute, only for Lorenzo Pellegrini to win it at the death and ease the pressure on his coach.
“Criticism doesn’t bother me,” Fonseca insisted.
“Sometimes it’s difficult when Roma are treated differently. Not Fonseca, but Roma. We’re third in the table and it seems like we’re last.
“It’s important that Roma must be respected more, not Fonseca. It doesn’t interest me if they write names of other coaches, I’m only thinking about the team.”
CALAMITOUS CAGLIARI BACK EDF
Cagliari’s dreadful run of form continued on Sunday with a 1-0 defeat by relegation rivals Genoa, their seventh consecutive loss in all competitions.
Coach Eusebio Di Francesco’s future appeared uncertain after a run of 12 games without a league meant they dropped into the relegation zone.
But the Sardinian side’s president Tommaso Giulini revealed at fulltime that rather than sacking the former Roma boss, he had handed him a new deal until 2023.
“We renewed Di Francesco’s contract this week to show how much we believe in him,” Giulini told Sky.
“We must transmit positive energy. The squad has quality and Di Francesco has the group in his grasp.
“We wanted to announce it after picking up some points, but unfortunately it went badly. Now the renewal will bring more solidity to the coach and the project.”
(Reporting by Alasdair Mackenzie; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
