With eight games to go, the Calcio round 30 fixtures saw teams at both ends of the log strive to achieve their targets; some trying to make it among the top four while others battled so hard to avoid relegation.
Empoli, Sassuolo and Salernitana; the three teams at the bottom of the table dropped points and reduced their chances of survival. Inter Milan, AC Milan and the in-form Bologna under Thiago Motta won their games and kept their Champions League qualification hopes alive.
Massimiliano Allegri whose job is at risk if he fails to send 3rd placed Juventus to next season’s Champions League travelled to Rome to take on Igor Tudor’s Lazio. Having lost their last three consecutive games in the league ahead of Juventus’ visit at the Olimpico, this was a must win game for the Eagles to keep their European qualification dreams valid.
The Stadio Olimpico saw a game of great chances missed by both teams. The dominant home side however had the greater share of chances; Valentin Castellanos failing to find the back of the net with a few. The second half of the game saw Christos Mandas make two great saves to deny Chiesa and Andrea Cambiaso keeping Lazio in the game.
The final fifteen minutes of the game however had Lazio look like the hungrier side after the introduction of Ciro Immobile. The final moment of the game is what made the difference between the two sides after Adam Marusic rose high to meet Matteo Guendouzi’s beautiful in-swinger and secured maximum points for Lazio.
Igor Tudor’s men, our team of the week, bagged three points which helped them leapfrog Napoli into seventh position and are now four points behind sixth placed Atalanta (a position that automatically sends them to UEFA Conference League). Lazio will face Juventus tonight in the first leg of the Coppa Italia Semifinal at the Aliianz Stadium before taking on Daniele De Rossi’s Roma in an exciting Derby della Capitale over the weekend.
