Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio blew defending champions Milan out of the water at the Stadio Olimpico, dismantling Stefano Pioli’s side in a visceral 4-0 win.
The pressure was on for the Rossoneri heading into the match, needing a win to try and stay hot on the heels of league leaders Napoli. The team have struggled to show their best since the World Cup break, winning just once in 2023, and they knew victory was needed in the Italian capital.
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Unfortunately for Milan, Lazio had already started to recover after their wobbles at the start of 2023, which saw them drop points to both Lecce and Empoli. A 2-0 win over Sassuolo was followed up by a 1-0 Coppa Italia win over Bologna, restoring some confidence at a vital time for Sarri’s squad.
Lazio went into their match against Milan aware of their abilities and it showed, with the team taking an almost-immediate lead. After just four minutes, Mattia Zaccagni made a clever run in the Rossoneri’s defensive third and played a perfectly weighted pass, which was left by two Lazio players for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who calmly slotted the ball past Ciprian Tatarusanu.
The Biancocelesti continued to hold the cards as the first half continued and eventually doubled their lead in the 38th minute, when a marauding Adam Marusic sprinted into the penalty area and launched a shot to Tatarusanu’s back post. The ball bounced off the woodwork, straight into the path of Zaccagni, who could make no mistake from two yards out.
Lazio took their foot off the gas at the start of the second half, leading to a lull in play for a while, until things took a more exciting turn after the hour mark.
Pierre Kalulu brought down Pedro in the penalty area in the 66th minute of the match, forcing referee Marco Di Bello to point to the spot. Luis Alberto stepped up and made no mistake from 12 yards out, sending Lazio 3-0 up with 20 minutes left to play.
Lazio closed out the match in the 75th minute, when Felipe Anderson finished off a quick attacking move to make things 4-0, a just reward after the Brazilian’s impressive performance.
It was an incredibly important and exciting win for Sarri’s side, who’ll have undoubtedly received a huge boost in confidence following the victory, remembering their three losses to Milan last season.
