Lazio cruise past Milan to keep top four dream alive
Joaquin Correa ensured Lazio kept their hopes of Champions League qualification alive on Monday with a double in a 3-0 win over AC Milan while Napoli jumped up to third thanks to a 2-0 triumph at Torino.
Correa opened the scoring for Lazio with only a minute on the clock at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome and added the second five minutes ater the break.
Ciro Immobile struck the third with three minutes let as Lazio moved five points off the Champions League spots with a game in hand on their rivals.
The stakes were high for both teams ahead of kickoff, with Lazio needing a win to keep their top four hopes alive and Milan looking to avoid another setback ater losing 2-1 to Sassuolo last week.
“This was like a final for us, the last chance to stay in with a shout for the top four... it was a clear and dominant victory,” Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.
“It was our last hope to stay in touch with the top four. We usually play finals in this way, it was a clear and overwhelming victory,” he added.
Inzaghi’s side sit sixth, behind Milan who are level on 66 points with Napoli and Juventus -- third and fourth respectively -- but have dropped down to fith ater their second straight league defeat.
They are 13 points behind leaders Inter Milan, who can win their first league title since 2010 on Saturday if they beat Crotone and second-placed Atalanta fail to win at Sassuolo on Sunday.
Stefano Pioli’s Milan, who started the weekend in second place, could have been beaten by a larger margin as Manuel Lazzari was denied a goal just before the break by the tightest of VAR offside calls and Italy forward Immobile struck the post seven minutes before he scored his 18th league goal of the campaign. Pioli was however let frustrated by Correa’s second, which was given ater a lengthy VAR check following what he felt was a foul from Lucas Leiva on Hakan Calhanoglu.
“I don’t understand how it wasn’t given as a foul on Calhanoglu, said Pioli.
“He looked at it again and from the replay you cannot say Leiva doesn’t catch Calhanoglu and completely miss the ball.”
“I expected more from my team,” Milan coach said. “We have the technical and physical quality to do beter. We must do more, now we must show that we are as strong as I think we are. We need to react immediately because this is a heavy defeat. The Champions League race has become a lot more difficult.”
Napoli moved into third thanks to first-half goals from Tiemoue Bakayoko and Victor Osimhen earlier on Monday.
They could have been further ahead at the break following a dominant opening period in which Piotr Zielinski hit the post and Mateo Politano was unlucky to see his deflected shot slide wide.
Lorenzo Insigne, playing his 300th Serie A match for Napoli, also hit the upright with a curling shot just before the hour mark.
They failed to add to their tally but ran out winners to put pressure on their rivals.
Torino meanwhile are staring at the prospect of relegation following the defeat, which leaves them hovering above the drop zone.
They sit 16th, level on 31 points with Benevento, who occupy the final relegation spot, and 17thplaced Cagliari who boosted their chances of survival with a 3-2 win over Roma on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Italian football federation (FIGC) said that clubs who join a breakaway league would be banned from all domestic competitions including Serie A. Three Serie A clubs — Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan — were among 12 major European sides who were involved in the plans to launch a European Super League last week.
“(Clubs) who plan to play in competitions outside of FIFA or UEFA will lose their affiliation to our championship,” Gabriele Gravina said.
Inter Milan announced their withdrawal from the proposed Super League last Wednesday ater the departure of the ‘big six’ English clubs.
But Juventus and AC Milan were less clear, acknowledging the failure of the plans without specifying whether or not they were leaving the project.
Italian League results on Monday: Torino 0 Napoli 2 (Bakayoko 11, Osimhen 13)
Lazio 3 (Correa 2, 51, Immobile 87) AC Milan 0