Felipe Anderson’s strike was the difference in the Rome derby between Lazio and AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Anderson scored the only goal of the affair after taking advantage of a costly Roger Ibanez error.
After their Derby Della Capitale win, Lazio leapfrogged Roma into joint third place with Atalanta. This is a good one for Maurizio Sarri’s men, who were without their best players, Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Roma were also without Paulo Dybala, Leonardo Spinazzola, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Ebrima.
Apart from being a derby that was a local showdown for pride, it was also a head-to-head for third place.
Roma went into the game on the back of their qualification for the Europa League play-offs, whereas Maurizio Sarri dropped into the Conference League.
Jose Mourinho’s side got the first chance through Tammy Abraham. The England striker scuffed his finish at Ivan Provider.
When it was the turn of Lazio to attack, Chris Smalling struggled under pressure from Luis Alberto.
Lazio finally scored what would later be the winner when Pedro pressed Roger Ibanez inside the penalty area. The Spaniard then managed to pass the ball cross for Felipe Anderson to stroke past Rui Patricio one-on-one.
In search of an equaliser, Nicolò Zaniolo’s strike from the edge of the area took a deflection to loop up and bounce off the crossbar.
After his assist, Pedro shot from a distance went while. Lorenzo Pellegrini attempted a shot from a distance while Smalling nodded a Pellegrini corner wide of the back post.
With some desperate defending, Alessio Romagnoli stopped Zaniolo from turning in from six yards. Provide.
Lazio almost made it two through a counter. Matteo Cancellieri pulled back the ball for Felipe Anderson, who stung Rui Patricio’s gloves from the edge of the area.
There was a brawl on the touchline after Rui Patricio went to get the ball for a throw-in, and Stefan Radu on the Lazio bench tried to slow him down.
Meanwhile, in the big match fixture between Juventus and Inter Milan, Juventus secured a crucial 2-0 win over Inter. Juventus players Adrien Rabiot and Nicolo Fagioli were the goalscorers.
Written by Oladipupuo Mojeed
