Lazio beat Napoli to secure Champions League berth
Lazio secured the third and final berth in the Champions League next season after beating Napoli 2-4 at the San Paolo.
It was the most important clash yesterday evening in the final programme of the 2014-15 season.
Lazio were enjoying a three-point lead over Napoli and therefore needed just a draw to clinch that third place.
In a tense match, Lazio took command in the first half during which they scored twice without reply.
It was Parolo who opened the scoring on 33 minutes and Candreeva added a second on the stroke of half time.
Napoli fought back in the second half and succeeded in reducing the arrears through Higuain on the 55th minute. Nine minutes later, the same Higuain levelled matters with a second goal for the home side.
But the Napoli comeback took a setback when Higuain missed a penalty on 76 minutes and paid dearly for that lapse as Onazi shot the Roman side ahead on 85 minutes. It was Klose who sealed the issue with a fourth goal for Lazio near the end.
The other matches which could have had a bearing on the final result were the Inter-Empoli and SampdoriaParma games. For Samp and Inter, it was a battle for seventh place to earn a chance of playing in next season’s Europa League in the event that a Genoa appeal against their exclusion from the same competition is not upheld.
Before the start, Sampdoria enjoyed a three-point lead over Inter and a draw would have been enough for the Genoa side win that seventh place.
It was Sampdoria who triumphed as they drew 2-2 with Parma while Inter remained a point behind despite winning 4-2 at the San Siro.
At the Marassi, all the goals arrived in the second half with Sampdoria twice taking the lead through Romagnoli and De Silvestri with Parma replying through Palladino and Varela.
At San Siro, Inter scored through Palacio, Icardi (2) and Brozovic while Mchedlidze (2) and Pucciarelli replied for Empoli.
Second placed Roma finished the season on a negative note, losing 1-2 against visiting Palermo. The Sicilians took the lead in the 35th minute through a Vazquez penalty and Roma scored an 85th minute equaliser through Totti. But Palermo obtained their win with an added time goal from Belotti.
Fiorentina, who were already sure of their berth in the Europa League, obtained a comfortable 3-0 win against ChievoVerona. Ilicic scored the first goal after 12 minutes. Bernardeschi added a second 14 minutes from the end and Badelj struck late to seal the issue.
Genoa’s fantastic run in their last matches came to a halt at Sassuolo who emerged winners 3-1. Berardi gave the home side a fourth minute lead and two goals from Zaza gave Sassuolo a 3-0 cushion. Pavoletti reduced the gap in the 41st minute, but despite some frantic efforts by Genoa, there were no further goals.
Torino obtained an easy 5-0 win over relegated Cesena with goals from Martinez, Lopez (2), Benassi and Moretti.
Relegated Cagliari finished the second with a home 4-3 win against Udinese.
Sau, Galvao, M’Poku and a Fernandes own goal were the scorers for the Sardinians, while Aguirre, Fernandes and Thereau netted for Udinese.