Lazio produced their best performance of the season and made it four wins in a row with an impressive 4-1 victory over Genoa in Rome.
The Grifone are something of a bogey team for the Biancocelesti, having won nine of their last 14 games against the capital club going into Sunday’s clash, but they were on the back foot throughout as Simone Inzaghi’s side dominated proceedings.
Goals from Felipe Caicedo, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and a Ciro Immobile brace gave the hosts a comfortable win, although Krzysztof Piatek’s fifth goal of the season briefly reduced the deficit early in the second half.
Inzaghi’s surprising decision to start Caicedo up front alongside Immobile was justified within the first seven minutes as the Ecuadorian opened the scoring. A long diagonal from Wallace found Milinkovic-Savic and the Serbian squared a header to the back post where Caicedo was on hand to smash in a diving header from close range.
Lazio continued to dominate and doubled their advantage on 23 minutes. Caicedo was again involved, pinching the ball off Daniel Bessa in midfield before Marco Parolo’s through ball found Immobile, who stuck it in the bottom corner expertly.
The first half was one-way traffic, but Genoa got a lifeline immediately after the break when a mistake from Francesco Acerbi gifted Piatek an opportunity and the Pole buried his fifth league goal of the season.
Lazio’s nerves were settled soon after though when Milinkovic-Savic rose to meet Senad Lulic’s cross with a powerful header into the bottom corner to open his account for the season. The home side then made it four at the death when Immobile pounced on Marchetti’s parry to bury his second of the day.
Inzaghi’s gamble pays off
Felipe Caicedo is a much-maligned figure among Lazio fans due to his poor record in front of goal and his selection in the starting line-up today will have raised a lot of eyebrows in the capital. However, Simone Inzaghi’s decision proved to be inspired as the Ecuadorian built on an excellent showing in the midweek Europa League victory over Apollon Limassol with an even better performance.
Within seven minutes his diving header had given the capital club the lead and he was at the heart of the second goal, demonstrating his great work ethic by winning the ball in the Genoa half to set up the attack that led to Immobile’s goal. He offers something completely different to the technically gifted Luis Alberto and Joaquin Correa as a partner for the Italy international, and if he can continue to add goals to his excellent link-up play he will give Inzaghi a welcome selection headache.
Piatek key to Genoa’s hopes
Even the most optimistic Genoa fans wouldn’t have expected their €4m summer signing from Cracovia to take to Italian football as effortlessly and as immediately as he has. A remarkable statistic emerged on social media after the Pole pulled one back for the Rossoblu early in the second half; he is the first player to score five goals in his first four Serie A appearances since Andriy Shevchenko in October 1999.
It would be unfair to expect the 23-year-old to make the same impact as the Ukrainian legend on the peninsula, but it is already clear that his form in front of goal will go a long way to deciding where Genoa end up this season. Piatek had a quiet afternoon against Lazio and wasn’t afforded many opportunities, but still ended up on the scoresheet. Not many teams in the division have such a clinical finisher in their ranks and Davide Ballardini could do worse than build his team around the Pole.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com