Lazio came from behind to beat Fiorentina 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday and keep their Scudetto dream alive, but the visitors were left furious about a controversial penalty decision.
A sensational solo goal from the 37-year-old Franck Ribery put the Viola ahead in the first half, but they were pegged back when Felipe Caicedo went down easily to earn the hosts a spot kick that was converted by Serie A top scorer Ciro Immobile.
Luis Alberto completed the comeback with a well-placed strike inside the final seven minutes, allowing the second placed Romans to keep pressure on leaders Juventus by restoring a four-point gap to the top of the Serie A table.
Simone Inzaghi made three injury enforced changes to the side that lost 3-2 at Atalanta on Wednesday, bringing in Bastos, Caicedo and Marco Parolo.
Fiorentina were without star winger Federico Chiesa, defender Martin Caceres and even coach Beppe Iachini through suspension and made five changes after being held to a 1-1 draw by rock-bottom Brescia.
The visitors started brightly, their energetic pressing putting Lazio under pressure, and took the lead through a moment of sublime skill from the evergreen Ribery.
The French winger picked up the ball on the left wing, skipped between Patric and Parolo, sold Francesco Acerbi with a dummy, and blasted in a finish.
Lazio were sparked into life by the setback as they finished the half strongly, Parolo forcing a good save from Bartlomiej Dragowski with a glancing header and Caicedo powering a headed effort of his own narrowly over.
Bastos ballooned over in front of an open goal on the brink of the half time, but his blushes were spared to an extent by the fact that Ciro Immobile had already been flagged for offside in the build-up.
The Viola came flying out of the blocks after the restart, as Gaetano Castrovilli’s curling effort was palmed away by a flying Strakosha before Rachid Ghezzal’s shot rattled the crossbar.
Dragowski made a sensational one-handed save to deny a blistering Jony strike, but just minutes later Lazio drew level in controversial fashion.
Caicedo chested the ball into the box and chased it down, but appeared to go down before contact was made with the Polish goalkeeper. The spot kick was awarded, with no VAR intervention, and Immobile stepped up to convert.
Alberto completed the turnaround on the 83rd minute when he drove forward from midfield and drilled a low shot into the bottom corner.
The drama didn’t end there, as Fiorentina substitute Dusan Vlahovic was sent off following a VAR review for elbowing Patric in the face, before Lazio coach Inzaghi was also shown a red card.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com