For the first time in 11 years, Lazio defeated Roma in both legs of derby, thanks to a goal from Mattia Zaccagni after Roma’s Roger Ibanez unwisely got himself sent off after only 32 minutes.
While for Lazio Felipe Anderson was unable to finish with enough force to trouble Rui Patricio, Luis Alberto and Gini Wijnaldum both hit scorchers that were not far off target.
Even though Mattia Zaccagni’s curler was effectively stopped, Roma was reduced to 10 men after only 32 minutes. In spite of the fact that Roger Ibanez already had one yellow card, he inevitably received a second one for bringing down Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in midfield after making a poor first touch that gave the ball away.
A flashpoint broke out on the touchline around Pedro after Milinkovic-Savic’s acrobatic scissor-kick volley missed, and both Roma goalkeeping coach Nuno Santos and Lazio staff member Marco Ianni were sent off as a result.
When Pedro took a shot that Chris Smalling bravely deflected with his face, Roma bunkered down the hatches by switching out Paulo Dybala for the defender Diego Llorente.
Rui Patricio had to change his position mid-air to reach a long-range screamer from Luis Alberto that had been fingertipped out from under the bar and prevented Lazio from taking lead. As it turned into a siege, the Spaniard had two more attempts, one wide and the other charged down by Gianluca Mancini.
Felipe Anderson was fortunate that the offside flag saved him from looking foolish after firing directly at the goalkeeper on a corner.
Lazio’s relentless pressure eventually paid off when Felipe Anderson got a toe on a through ball that sent Zaccagni down the left. A rebound off Nicola Zalewski fell graciously for him, and the Zacagni pulled the finish into the back of the far bottom corner using the inside of his right boot.
Just over two minutes later, Roma scored when Lorenzo Pellegrini’s free kick connected with a header from Mancini, and further knocked by Smalling but Nicolo Casale bundled the ball into his own goal. Though Smalling was offside, VAR determined that the goal should not have been allowed.
Provedel had to flap away a swerving cross-shot from Leonardo Spinazzola at full stretch, while Llorente made a decisive interception to prevent Luis Alberto from getting clear on goal. Bryan Cristante barely missed hitting his head on a cross from Stephan El Shaarawy in stoppages as the ten men fought to the very end.
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