Manuel Lazzari and Luis Alberto stole the show, as Lazio cruised to a 3-0 win over a disastrous AS Roma side at Stadio Olimpico on Friday.
Lazio were hot off the gates and grabbed a well-deserved lead in the 14th minute when captain Ciro Immobile pounced on a stray ball to bundle the ball into the net from close range. Shortly after, the Biancocelesti were two to the good, as Luis Alberto produced a precise finish from Manuel Lazzari’s cut-back.
Lazio continued to be the stronger of the two sides, with Pau Lopez making a number of saves to keep AS Roma within touching distance of their hosts. At the other end, the Giallorossi failed to test Pepe Reina and that was ultimately telling as Lazio put the game to bed midway through the second period.
Luis Alberto doubled his tally with a peach of a strike from outside the box, as Lazio completed the 3-0 win to close the gap to the top four, winning three in a row for the first time in Serie A this term. The Hard Tackle now runs the rule over both sets of players following Friday’s Derby della Capitale at Stadio Olimpico.
Lazio
Pepe Reina: 6/10
AS Roma saw more of the ball than Lazio, but Reina was hardly tested on the night. The Spaniard made a couple of saves, but his key contribution was quick and precise release of the ball to initiate strong build-up plays. Kept a well-deserved clean sheet.
Luiz Felipe: 7/10
In a solid night’s work, Felipe helped teammate Francesco Acerbi in keeping a check on the Roma attack, with 6 duels won, 4 tackles, 3 interceptions and 3 clearances to show for his efforts.
Francesco Acerbi: 8/10
The leader at the back for Lazio, Acerbi had a huge role to play in his side’s efficient display, as he kept Roma captain Edin Dzeko quiet for the most part. Lost the ball just thrice while playing it forward.
Stefan Radu: 7/10
Like the rest of the Lazio defenders, Radu hardly put a foot wrong and was instrumental in negating the influence of Lorenzo Pellegrini. However, he was not as precise as he could have been on the ball.
Manuel Lazzari: 9/10
Simone Inzaghi: “Manuel Lazzari had real problems last week, needed treatment and painkillers over the last couple of days, but he is a great guy and deserves all the praise.”
Lazzari was a warrior tonight vs Roma. He was determined, focused and had a great attitude. pic.twitter.com/Op7rELtDvs
— Jerry Mancini (@jmancini8) January 15, 2021
The star of the show for Lazio, Lazzari provided the assists for both the goals that his side scored in the first half. The delivery for the second, in particular, was the pick of the two, as he showed great awareness to pick out Luis Alberto. Continued posing a threat down the right flank while keeping a check on Leonardo Spinazzola.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic: 7/10
Milinkovic-Savic might not have anything to show for his efforts on Friday, but he played his part in pushing Lazio forward with purpose and efficiency. Not as solid off the ball, though, and was dribbled past twice.
Lucas Leiva: 7/10
When the opposition does not manage to get on top of your team despite having a major chunk of the possession, you know you have done well, and that is what Lucas did. Nothing spectacular, but played his part effectively.
Luis Alberto: 9/10
Luis Alberto has netted his 5th and 6th goals of the season tonight vs. Roma, equalling his Serie A goals' tally from the whole of last season.
Five in five for the Lazio man. pic.twitter.com/G7n7rvXAp4
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 15, 2021
The man who made a great deal of difference, Luis Alberto produced two brilliant finishes to get all three points for Lazio against AS Roma. Carried a threat in the final third otherwise too, creating a couple of chances.
Adam Marusic: 6.5/10
Not as involved going forward as Lazzari, but Marusic still produced a professional display. Solid in his defensive duties, though, and denied Rick Karsdorp time and again.
Felipe Caicedo: 6/10
Hardly involved in the game, Caicedo had just 16 touches on the ball, but did play 1 key pass.
Ciro Immobile: 8/10
A night when Immobile led by example. The Lazio skipper was at hand to pounce on a stray ball to bundle the ball into the back of the net and came close two more times. Now up to 12 Serie A goals for the season.
Ciro Immobile has scored 48 league goals since the start of last season, more than any other player in Serie A.
Consistently clinical for Lazio. ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/4Fug8fizp1
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 15, 2021
SUBSTITUTES
Gonzalo Escalante: 6/10
On for Lucas, Escalante was solid in his display while being extremely accurate with the ball at his feet (19/20 passes completed).
Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro: 5/10
Hardly managed to get into the game after replacing Caicedo.
Patric: 6/10
On for Luiz Felipe, Patric continued from where his teammate had left off, doing a solid job at the back.
Wesley Hoedt: N/A
A late introduction, Hoedt helped see the game out.
Vedat Muriqi: N/A
A late introduction, Muriqi did not play enough to warrant a rating.
AS Roma
Pau Lopez: 6/10
A big reason why AS Roma did not eat humble pie against Lazio on Friday. The Spaniard was quite helpless in his bid to keep out the three goals, but he made as many as five saves to keep the scoreline from becoming embarrassing for his side.
Gianluca Mancini: 5/10
A disastrous evening for Mancini, who just was not comfortable against the Lazio onslaught and should have done better to close down Alberto for his second goal.
Chris Smalling: 4/10
The leader at the back for AS Roma, Smalling endured an off night, struggling to keep the backline organised while failing to get on top of his duel with Immobile, who was also unmarked for the first Lazio goal.
Smalling: "That is not a fair reflection of how we have been playing recently. Mistakes led to two of their goals and [that] made the match extremely difficult. But there was still a lot of time to be played.
"Just pure disappointment tonight. For everyone.”#ASRoma #LazioRoma pic.twitter.com/m5Wi2lQvFA
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) January 15, 2021
Roger Ibanez: 3/10
A night to forget for Ibanez, who made a costly error in the lead-up to the first Lazio goal and never looked like he was up for tor the task at hand on Friday night.
Rick Karsdorp: 5/10
Much like the rest of his teammates, Karsdorp endured a difficult evening. Hardly got a look in going forward, but managed to play in 1 key pass.
Gonzalo Villar: 5/10
While Villar ensured that he pushed Roma forward in solid fashion, he did not manage to do all that well off the ball, with Lazio overrunning his team on the counter.
Jordan Veretout: 5/10
Similar to Villar, Veretout was pretty precise on the ball, but did not do all too well in the defensive phase, with the game passing him by at times.
Leonardo Spinazzola: 4/10
While Karsdorp still got in on some action, Spinazzola was completely anonymous and hardly did anything of note going foward while being overpowered by Lazzari on the transitions.
Lorenzo Pellegrini: 5/10
Poor from Pellegrini, who just could not manage to make any sort of impact. Needs to do much better.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 6/10
The only minor positive among the outfield players for Roma, Mkhitaryan did all he could to push Roma forward with purpose, but also lost the ball a fair few times in his endeavour to do so.
Edin Dzeko: 5/10
Despite the fact that Roma saw a lot of the ball, Dzeko was isolated well by the Lazio defence. But, he ought to have done far better when he got a few chances coming his way.
SUBSTITUTES
Pedro: 6/10
On for Veretout, Pedro provided an injection of energy that Roma needed but did not have the end product to make a difference.
Bryan Cristante: 5/10
On for Villar, Cristante continued in similar fashion as the incumbent and struggled to impose himself.
Borja Mayoral: 5/10
Mayoral replaced Mancini but hardly got a look in, getting just 5 touches on the ball.
Bruno Peres: 6/10
On for Spinazzola was a solid customer late on but did not make an impact going forward.
