A six-goal night in Emilia
Lazio beat Sassuolo 6-2 away from home on Tuesday night, and the result keeps them at the head of Serie A. According to [1], they arrived having won seven of their first eight league games, level with Inter at the top. They were already well ahead in the first half, with the live blog recording them 4-1 up at one stage and Mattia Zaccagni among the scorers.
The game turned on a red card. Sassuolo’s Kristian Thorstvedt was sent off, as [2] reported, and Lazio played the later stages against ten men. Sassuolo came in without a win in six league games and having lost their last two, so the home side were short of confidence as well as a player.
For Lazio it was a ninth unbeaten league game of the season and an eighth win. Their recent results show the pattern: 2-0 at Venezia, 3-1 against Monza, 3-0 at Juventus, 2-1 against Parma and now 6-2 at Sassuolo. The side is scoring freely and winning away from home, and the numbers behind it are strong: 22 goals scored and 7 conceded in nine matches.
Missed penalties and a manager who is not satisfied
The scoreline could have been even heavier. [3] reports that both Zaccagni and Davide Frattesi missed penalties, and that Sassuolo’s Stefano Turati saved both. Zaccagni did score in open play, so the miss did not define his night, but two failures from the spot in one game is the kind of detail a coach notices even after a big win.
Gennaro Gattuso did notice. He said Lazio’s defensive block and their game management after taking the lead need to improve, and he added that it helped that Sassuolo were down to ten men, according to [4]. Conceding twice against a side reduced to ten is the point behind that comment. A team that wins eight of nine can still be critical of how it manages a lead.
Hernan Crespo took a more generous view. [3] quotes the former striker praising Lazio and Gattuso and saying the team deserve to lead the league. Both opinions can be right. The results justify the top spot, while the coach’s own criticism points to what could cost points against better opposition.
Line-up and squad news
Lazio’s confirmed XI at Sassuolo was Mandas; Floriani Mussolini, Sutalo, Diego Leite, N. Tavares; Frattesi, Belahyane, Taylor; Isaksen, Noslin, Zaccagni. [5] noted that Diego Leite came in at centre-back in place of Oliver Provstgaard, so the back line changed for this match.
The absentee list is the main concern. Nicolò Rovella, Adam Marušić and Albert Guðmundsson were all still out after the game, per [2], and the sourcing on those absences carries only moderate confidence, so any return dates are unconfirmed. One piece of good news is that Andrea Pinamonti was back on the bench after a throat infection.
Lazio also have a lighter schedule than most of their rivals. They went out of the Coppa Italia in the opening round and are not in European competition this season, as [6] notes. Whether that helps or hurts is open to debate, but it does mean the league is the only competition Gattuso has to manage.
What it means
Lazio are first in Serie A with 25 points from nine games, with eight wins, one draw and no defeats. Their goal difference of +15 (22 scored, 7 conceded) shows a team that wins by wide margins, not by narrow ones. Four of the five most recent results came by at least two goals, and the exception was a 2-1 against Parma.
The form line says Lazio win and score in bunches, but Gattuso’s own comments about the defensive block suggest the 7 goals conceded could be fewer. Two of those came on Tuesday, against a side that finished with ten men.
The next fixture asks a different question. Lazio host Cagliari on 1 November, and the site’s forecast for that match locks 24 hours before kick-off. Cagliari lost 4-2 at Roma on Tuesday, according to [3], which means they have conceded four to one rival this week and will face a Lazio side that has just scored six. The test for Gattuso’s side is whether they can keep that attacking output while tightening up at the back, and whether the missing Rovella, Marušić and Guðmundsson are close to a return.
Sources
- Football Italia: Serie A Liveblog: Sassuolo vs. Lazio, Roma vs. Cagliari, Torino vs. Como football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Serie A | Sassuolo 2-6 Lazio: Unstoppable Aquile hit six past 10 men football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Crespo: ‘Lazio deserve their lead, anyone who criticised Gattuso has to apologise’ football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Gattuso: ‘It helped that Sassuolo were down to 10, defensive block wasn’t very good’ football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Serie A: Sassuolo vs. Lazio – Confirmed line-ups football-italia.net ↩
- Football Italia: Gattuso: ‘Make Lazio fans proud, but with 11 players like me, you won’t win much’ football-italia.net ↩
