Lazio brought high-flying Cagliari back down to earth with Saturday’s overwhelming 3-0 win at Sardegna Arena. The sides headed into proceedings in contrasting atmospheres, but Maurizio Sarri’s side lived up to their status as pre-match favourites despite recent form woes.
Things might have gone in a different way if it weren’t for a 19th-minute penalty for Lazio. Ciro Immobile made no mistake from the spot to give his side an early lead and take his Serie A tally for the season 20, matching Dusan Vlahovic’s count at the top of the scoring charts.
Luis Alberto, who last scored in Serie A in a 3-1 thumping of Venezia in December, doubled the visitors’ lead late in the first half. The playmaker’s strike probably determined the outcome, as Cagliari never managed to recover from a substantial half-time deficit.
Things went from bad to worse for Walter Mazzarri’s team when Felipe Anderson slotted home another sublime assist from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic just beyond the hour mark. Lazio full-back Adam Marusic received his marching orders in the 88th minute, but his expulsion had no effect on the final score.
While the victory helped Laziowhittle down the gap on sixth-placed Atalanta to a single point, Cagliari will remain two points clear of 18th-placed Venezia until tomorrow. If the Lagunari beat Sassuolo at home, the Sardinians will slide back to the relegation zone.
After scoring his second goal in three Serie A appearances, Anderson outlined his side’s ambition to challenge for a top-four finish. Lazio will face an uphill task to beat Juventus and other contenders in an evenly-contested top-four race, but the Brazilian believes they could achieve that.
“We were disappointed at recent results, but knew that if we continued to play like that, the results would arrive. We are happy tonight as we take home three very important points,” he told Sky Sport Italia as relayed by TUTTOmercatoWEB.
“We know that we’re a strong team, we have solidity and can challenge for the Champions League. It is difficult, but we can do it.“