Lazio made it two Derby della Capitale wins out of two against rivals Roma this season, fighting hard for their 1-0 win.
Tensions were predictably high ahead of the Rome derby and the Biancocelesti were hungry to show their best after a tough few weeks across Serie A and the Europa Conference League.
For Roma, their month was ever-chaotic and they hoped for a win to help them make up for lost ground in the race for a top four finish.
The Stadio Olimpico was packed as the two teams took to the pitch and the fiery nature of the Derby della Capitale was instantly apparent, with Roma’s Roger Ibanez picking up the first booking of the game after just eight minutes.
After a testing first half hour, tensions flared after Ibanez committed a late foul on Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Referee Davide Massa was the centre of attention and he infuriated the Giallorossi by showing the defender a second yellow card, ending his derby after just 32 minutes.
The sending off allowed Lazio to take control for the remainder of the first half but Maurizio Sarri’s side were unable to find a breakthrough, giving them plenty to think about during the half time break.
The Biancocelesti dominated the ball in the second half but it still took them more than an hour to find the back of the net.
After 65 minutes, Felipe Anderson cleverly flicked the ball to Mattia Zaccagni, whose beautiful first touch allowed him to dart inside the Roma box. The Italian winger took one touch before classily slotting the ball past Rui Patricio, putting Lazio 1-0 up.
Roma almost managed to find an immediate response after picking up a free kick in the Biancocelesti half. A floated ball allowed Gianluca Mancini to head the ball on goal, but Ivan Provedel was quick to parry it out, straight into the path of Chris Smalling.
The English defender wildly kicked out at the ball but it spun off him into Nicolo Casale, who accidentally put it in his own net. Luckily for the Biancocelesti, Smalling was offside, pushing VAR to chalk the goal off.
Roma tried to respond as the minutes ticked by but Lazio remained focus and mature, cleverly seeing out their victory in a tense and testy Derby della Capitale.
