It was the day of Giovanni Simeone at the Marc’Antonio Bentegodi Stadium in Verona: the son of Atlètico Madrid’s coach Diego led the Scaligeri to a crushing victory over Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio, scoring all four goals to a wrap a 4-1 success for the home side in Serie A Round 9.
Lazio tried to get back into the game when Ciro Immobile halved the gap early in the second half to consolidate his position as Serie A top scorer, but it was a short illusion for the Biancocelesti. Simeone added two more before full time, well served by a Gianluca Caprari who also wrapped a sumptuous performance on his part.
Aside from Simeone’s spectacular performance, it is difficult to save anybody among Maurizio Sarri’s lines. The Biancocelesti appeared intimidated and careless. They were constantly outclassed in one-on-one duels by the Verona men, who soon took full control of the operations.
In such circumstances, it was only a matter of time before the Gialloblu would open the scoring. Simeone did so on 30 minutes, finalizing for the best a fine exchange also involving Miguel Veloso and Caprari. He then added a second to his tally just six minutes later, once again serviced by the former Sampdoria and Benevento player, firing the ball into the top corner of the net with a phenomenal screamer.
Right after the restart, Immobile pulled one back for Lazio, taking advantage of Koray Gunter’s poor defending and of a Lorenzo Montipò mistake on goal. But as soon as coach Igor Tudor reshuffled his cards with some substitutions, the Scaligeri regained full control.
After Simeone made it three for Verona on 62 minutes, Lazio had a couple of additional chances, with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic first denied by the post and then by Montipò – who thus redeemed himself for his blunder in the occasion of the Biancocelesti‘s only goal.
Well into added time, El Cholo‘s son perfected his haul from another Gianluca Caprari assist, pushing Verona away from the relegation zone and adding to Maurizio Sarri’s inconsistent Lazio’s woes.