After prevailing in the Derby della Capitale, Lazio caught their second win in a row to reach Milan at the second place in the Serie A table, eight points behind top-ranked Napoli. The Biancocelesti disposed of Monza on Thursday night with a lone goal from 17-year-old Argentine talent Luka Romero.
Romero was sent in by Maurizio Sarri in the second half and pounced on a save from Michele Di Gregorio to net his first Serie A goal, giving Lazio all three points on offer despite a courageous display on the part of Raffaele Palladino’s Brianzoli.
Sarri recovered Sergej Milinkovic-Savic after the Serbian served a one-match ban and resorted to some turnover ahead of next weekend’s key game at Juventus. Lazio’s offensive trident featured Matteo Cancellieri for the first time as a starter alongside Felipe Anderson and Pedro.
Ciro Immobile was fit for the bench and eventually set foot on the pitch in the final stages of the game, collecting his first cap since October 16.
Palladino lined up Monza in 3-4-2-1 fashion were Andrea Petagna was the lone striker, supported by Andrea Colpani and José Machin.
The first half ended with no goals even though Petagna did find the net with a spectacular back-heel kick. However, his exploit on 13 minutes was disallowed on grounds of offside.
Colpani made himself dangerous with a shot on target that crashed into Ivan Provedel’s gloves. Lazio’s best effort came from Matias Vecino but the Uruguayan’s shot was too wide.
Sarri replaced Cancellieri with Romero after the break and that turned to be the winning move. On 69 minutes, Pedro called Di Gregorio to action with a powerful shot. The Monza goalkeeper pushed it back, but couldn’t do anything as Romero tapped the ball in to celebrate his first top-flight goal just one week from turning 18.
Monza replied with a late Gianluca Caprari header that sailed above the crossbar. That was all they could produce as the Lazio wall was not tested any further and held until full time.
The Biancorossi came home empty handed after coming back to winning ways in Verona last week, while Lazio extended their winning streak as they welcomed back Ciro Immobile among their lines. Maurizio Sarri could not have asked for a better night.
MATCH SCORECARD
November 10, 2022 – Serie A 2022-2023 Round 13
LAZIO – MONZA 1-0
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LAZIO (4-3-3): Provedel; Lazzari (26′ Marusic), Casale, Romagnoli, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Marcos Antonio (60′ Cataldi), Vecino (60′ Basic); Cancellieri (46′ Romero), Felipe Anderson, Pedro (86′ Immobile) (Maximiano, Adamonis, Luis Alberto, Kamenovic, Radu, Gila, Bertini) Coach: Sarri |
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MONZA (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; Donati (58′ Marlon), Caldirola, Izzo (78′ Carboni); Ciurria, Ranocchia, Pessina, Carlos Augusto; Colpani (72′ Caprari), Machin (58′ Rovella); Petagna (27′ st Gytkjaer) (Cragno, Sorrentino, Barberis, Valoti, Birindelli, Ferrarini, Antov, Bondo, D’Alessandro, Vignato) Coach: Palladino |
NOTES: Yellow Cards: Donati (M), Casale (L), Marusic (L), Izzo (M); Added Time: 1st Half 2′, 2nd Half 4′
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