Ciro Immobile scored a decisive brace to end his Serie A drought and put Lazio back on track, and Paulo Sousa lost his Serie A debut while sitting on the Salernitana bench.
Antonio Candreva made a few counterattacking attempts early on against his former team Lazio, and Luigi Sepe saved a Ciro Immobile angled shot at the near post.
Matias Vecino’s attempt was narrowly deflected by Flavius Daniliuc, Sepe flew to block a Pedro curler from inside the box, and Candreva pricked Ivan Provedel’s gloves from an awkward angle.
After the restart, Pedro, who was now sporting a big bandage on his nose after receiving a knock that caused it to bleed in the first half, cut inside and had his shot blocked.
Adam Marusic’s right wing cross found Ciro Immobile, who timed his run expertly to elude the defenders and finish at the back post as Lazio gained the advantage.
Dylan Bronn’s overhead kick that narrowly missed the goal was on the verge of a spectacular equaliser and gave Lazio a breath of relief.
Later, however, Lorenzo Pirola and Sepe appeared to lack urgency and communication, and Immobile managed to get in between them by sheer force of will to win the penalty. Despite Sepe getting a fingertip to it, Immobile also converted, hard and low into the corner that is closest to the bottom.
When Luis Alberto attempted to curl in straight from the corner flag, Sepe was prepared, but substitute Matteo Cancellieri earned a soft penalty by cutting in front of Bronn, and the defender went too far in his protests, receiving a red card. It was ineffective because Luis Alberto saw Sepe parry his penalty kick and missed the follow-up shot.
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