This Week In Lazio History: December 23-29 | OneFootball

For Christmas week we remember some important games and wins in Lazio history particularly a 2-2 in nine men at Palermo in 2007.

Matches of the Week

Date: Sunday, December 23, 1973 Venue: Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi, Verona Fixture: Verona Lazio 0-1 Lazio suffer but win with a Garlaschelli goal and now top Serie A

Date: Wednesday, December 24, 1958 Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Moccagatta, Alessandria Fixture: Alessandria Lazio 0-2 With two goals in the second half by Bizzarri and Tozzi, Lazio clinch a fundamental win.

Date: Wednesday, December 26, 2018 Venue: Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Bologna Fixture: Bologna Lazio 0-2 Luiz Felipe and Captain Senad Lulic secure a comfortable Lazio victory in the match that saw the Inzaghi brothers clash for the first time as managers.

Date: Sunday, December 27, 1931 Venue: Stadio di Corso Marsiglia, Turin Fixture: Juventus Lazio 1-2 Lazio score two goals in the opening seven minutes to claim a shock win

Date: Sunday, December 27, 1970 Venue: Stadio Comunale, Florence Fixture: Fiorentina Lazio 1-1 A rare Facco goal ten minutes from time gives Lazio a well-deserved point

Match In Focus

Date: Sunday, December 23, 2007 Venue: Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo Fixture: Palermo Lazio 2-2

An uncharacteristically cold afternoon brought about 25,000 spectators to the beautifully located ground at the foot of Monte Pellegrino.

The first phases were all Palermo with the front three combining neatly. Lazio however were balanced tactically and covered the field well. The Rosanero attacked but had difficulty being truly dangerous.

Palermo’s pressure was interrupted in the 26th minute when a Fabio Firmani close range shot was saved by Federico Agliardi. Then the Rosaneri piled forward again and took the lead in the 34th minute. A Miccoli freekick from the right into the area was headed in by Fabio Simplicio. Palermo 1 Lazio 0.

Lazio reacted and had two shots just over the bar, first with Stephen Makinwa and then Aleksandar Kolarov. The first half ended with a bit of friction with Fabio Vignaroli threatening Ciro Capuano for not having put the ball out when he had been down injured. Halftime score Palermo 1 Lazio 0. All in all, a deserved lead for the Sicilian Eagles.

The second half had barely started when Palermo scored again. In the 46th minute an assist by Miccoli put Amauri one-on-one with Marco Ballotta, the Brazilian made no mistake with a cool, left-footed lob. Palermo 2 Lazio 0. The worst possible re-start for Lazio, things were looking grim.

Miccoli then almost made it three but Ballotta saved two attempts.

Lazio tried to change things making two substitutions, in the 56th minute Igli Tare replaced Makinwa and in the 59th Simone Del Nero came on for Vignaroli.

Following the second replacement Lazio immediately pulled one back. Firmani found himself unmarked in the area on a Kolarov assist and beat Agliardi with a low right foot. Palermo 2 Lazio 1.

At this point Palermo concentrated on maintaining the lead and their midfield dropped back at least 15-20 metres. In the 69th minute Guidolin took off forward Cavani and put on another defensive midfielder Aimo Diana.

In the 75th minute came a key episode in the match. Sebastiano Siviglia fouled Amauri in the area on a goal scoring opportunity, red card for the defender and penalty to Palermo. Amauri stepped up to virtually close the game but fired his shot over the bar. A lifeline for Lazio but still with a mountain to climb.

In the 77th minute Rossi played his last card throwing on Lionel Scaloni for Christian Manfredini.

Four minutes later Lazio, despite the numerical inferiority, managed to equalise. Lorenzo De Silvestri powered down the right and squared to Tare in the middle, the Albanian’s low left foot went in near the post. Palermo 2 Lazio 2. An extraordinary turnaround in events.

Palermo were in shock and could not get a winner even when Lazio remained in 9 men. In the 89th minute De Silvestri was sent off for a second yellow and the referee then gave three minutes of injury time. The Lazio defence however stood firm and brought back a very welcome point back to Rome. Final score Palermo 2 Lazio 2.

Palermo were extremely disappointed about not closing out the match but Lazio had battled hard and never given up, in what at times looked like a certain defeat.

Birthdays This Week