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Lazio put a dent in Milan's fading Scudetto hopes after securing a comfortable 4-0 victory at the Stadio Olimpico
Maurizio Sarri's Lazio strengthened their claim for Champions League football next season with a clinical 4-0 win over a strong AC Milan side.
Lazio too strong for Milan
Maurizio Sarri was looking for somebody to step up in the absence of talismanic frontman Ciro Immobile, and replacement captain Sergej Milinkovic-Savic did that just four minutes into proceedings.
Aided much by some calamitous Rossoneri defending, the Serbian capitalised on some neat build-up play to sweep home his first league goal since October.
To make matters worse for Milan, Fikayo Tomori was forced off through injury with just 24 minutes on the clock, as they continued to look a shadow of last season’s title-winning side.
The hosts had earned their luck with some superb play and Mattia Zaccagni duly cashed in, as the ball bounced to him after Ciprian Tatarusanu had touched Adam Marusic’s shot onto the post, allowing the winger to make himself Lazio’s top league goalscorer at the time with a simple finish.
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After an incredible block was required from Simon Kjær to deny Zaccagni moments before half-time, Milan needed a quick response that almost arrived after the restart through Ismaël Bennacer’s free-kick, which fizzed inches wide of Ivan Provedel’s post.
Sensing defeat, Milan boss Stefano Pioli went for broke shortly before the hour mark, making a triple substitution to try and rescue the situation.
Charles De Ketelaere was one of the trio deployed, and he dinked in a purposeful cross to tee up Rafael Leao, whose frustrating night continued with his effort going over the crossbar.
Just minutes later, Pedro was fouled inside the area by Pierre Kalulu as he latched onto Felipe Anderson’s pass, winning a penalty that Luis Alberto calmly sent down the middle.
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With a quarter-hour left, Anderson then coolly rounded off the scoring with a low shot following some neat interplay inside Milan’s box.
Milan’s disastrous winless run now stands at five matches, leaving them out of the Coppa Italia, defeated by Internazionale in the Supercoppa Italiana and 12 points behind league leaders Napoli.
Meanwhile, Lazio’s third consecutive win in all competitions saw them jump three places in the league table, perhaps quietly bringing them into the title conversation with exactly half of this Serie A season still remaining.
Man of the match - Mattia Zaccagni
There were a lot of contenders in the Lazio side today, but Zaccagni was at the centre of everything. He set up the first goal, scored the second, had a hand in the fourth, and could’ve had another couple himself were it not for some desperate defending.
An electric performance and all of this in the absence of Lazio’s star striker Ciro Immobile.
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