The 180th Derby della Capitale was decided by a solitary Mattia Zaccagni goal as Lazio climbed up into second with a 1-0 win, opening up a five-point gap to their bitter City rivals Roma in their quest for UEFA Champions League qualification.
When the two sides did eventually settle, they traded blows in search of the opener, with Georginio Wijnaldum firing narrowly over for Roma and only a smart stop from Rui Patrício denied Felipe Anderson from nosing Lazio ahead.
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Having already been booked in the early stages, Roger Ibañez felled Sergej Milinković-Savić on the counter and was handed his second yellow, prompting scenes like that of Lazio scoring a goal in the Stadio Olimpico.
One man who was still on the pitch, but perhaps a little fortunate to be, Luis Alberto was keen to take full advantage of his reprieve and came tantalisingly close to firing Lazio ahead, but his ferocious drive from the edge of the box was beaten away by Patrício.
Even with a man light, Roma still carried a brief threat from some set-pieces but as the game ebbed into it’s dying stages their prospects of finding an equaliser that would’ve sent the maroon half of the Stadio Olimpico into raptures were shortening by the minute.
But with Lazio keeping 15 clean sheets this term, that was never likely to be the case and it proved that way as they saw out the three points that moved them into second place before Inter’s clash with Juventus tonight.
