Lazio are cruising at the top of the Serie A standings after thrashing 10-man Sassuolo 6-2, despite Stefano Turati saving two penalty kicks, after Kristian Thorstvedt saw red.
The Biancocelesti were joint top of the table with Inter going into this midweek round, but while Albert Gudmundsson, Adam Marusic and Nicolò Rovella were still out of action, Andrea Pinamonti returned to the bench following a throat infection. Diogo Leite allowed Oliver Provstgaard to rest. The hosts scraped just one point from the last four rounds, a 1-1 draw with Milan, missing Jay Idzes, Fedde Leysen, Ismael Koné and Daniel Boloca.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
Lazio fans are boycotting the home games in protest at President Claudio Lotito, but this felt like their territory, as they practically outnumbered the home supporters.
It took under 120 seconds to break the deadlock, as Kenneth Taylor sent Gustav Isaksen down the right, who tried to roll across for David Frattesi, but the Luca Lipani interception accidentally laid it off for Taylor to sweep home from 14 yards. Frattesi was offside, but not interfering with Stefano Turati’s attempted save.
Play had barely resumed after the long VAR check when Sassuolo equalised, as Josh Doig rolled across from the left for Kristian Thorstvedt’s first-time finish, with potential deflection off Bosko Sutalo.
Lazio restored their advantage when Mattia Zaccagni shrugged off Lipani and cut inside from the left, finding Isaksen to score relatively undisturbed just inside the area, into the far bottom corner with the inside of the left foot.
They had the ball in the net for a third time just three minutes later, when Taylor’s low slide-rule pass from the left went past both Zaccagni and Tijjani Noslin, eventually tapped in at the back post by Romano Floriani Mussolini. His celebrations were cut short by the offside flag, but the Lazio youth product did manage to celebrate his first Serie A goal after a VAR check.
The last time four goals were scored in the opening 16 minutes of a Serie A match was Atalanta-Bologna in April 2019.
Noslin fired just over, while Christos Mandas almost paid for a hasty rush off his line to clear, as Darryl Bakola couldn’t find the empty net from midfield.
Sassuolo’s day went from bad to worse, as Thorstvedt was shown a straight red card for a leg-breaker tackle on Zaccagni, stamping on his ankle and shin, completely mis-timing the challenge.
Armand Laurienté had the ball in the net, but only after wandering offside on the long ball, and Sassuolo did get one back before the break with Simone Cinquegrano nodding back a cross from the by-line, Sebastiano Esposito controlled with his chest and fired in from 14 yards.
In first half stoppages, Isaksen floated a ball over the top to find Zaccagni unmarked for a free header from six yards.
Straight after the restart, Cinquegrano deflected a Zaccagni shot with a raised arm and it was spotted by VAR for a penalty, but Zaccagni’s weak penalty was smothered by Stefano Turati.
Noslin still added another goal for Lazio when he took a touch on the Zaccagni assist and bent a right-foot finish into the far bottom corner from the edge of the area.
It should’ve been more, as Isaksen was brought down clumsily by Duje Caleta-Car for another penalty. Even though Frattesi stepped up this time, the result was the same, with Turati saving again.
Noslin wasn’t done, his screamer from outside the area into the far top corner to leave Turati with no chance.
Matteo Cancellieri could’ve had a seventh with a free header wide of the far post as Zaccagni stood up the ball from the by-line.
Mandas also made a great save on the Kieron Bowie angled drive, but the Sassuolo striker was just offside.
Sassuolo 2-6 Lazio
Taylor 2 (L), Thorstvedt 7 (S), Isaksen 13 (L), Floriani Mussolini 16 (L), S Esposito 43 (S), Zaccagni 45+1 (L), Noslin 55, 66 (L)
Sent off: Thorstvedt 32 (S)
Saved penalty: Zaccagni 51 (L), Frattesi 61 (L)
Player statistic
| 2' | Kenneth Taylor | |||
| Kristian Thorstvedt (Assist: Josh Doig) |
7' | |||
| 13' | Gustav Isaksen (Assist: Mattia Zaccagni) | |||
| 16' | Romano Floriani Mussolini (Assist: Kenneth Taylor) | |||
| 28' | Kenneth Taylor | |||
| Kristian Thorstvedt |  |
31' | ||
| Sebastiano Esposito (Assist: Simone Cinquegrano) |
43' | |||
| 45+1' | Mattia Zaccagni (Assist: Gustav Isaksen) |
| 50' | Mattia Zaccagni | |||
| Domenico Berardi |  |
54' | ||
| 55' | Tijjani Noslin (Assist: Mattia Zaccagni) | |||
| 61' |  |
Davide Frattesi | ||
| 65' |  |
Tijjani Noslin (Assist: Fisayo Dele-Bashiru) |
