Lazio came into this match having won seven straight games and gone unbeaten in their last 10 matches. As for their counterpart, Cagliari were unbeaten in their last 13 matches. In this match, the Biancocelesti prevailed late into injury time after trailing by a goal. Lazio got goals from Luis Alberto and Felipe Caicedo at the 93rd and 98th minute respectively.
Story of the game
Lazio had the first chance of the match in the second minute from a Cagliari turnover. Alberto made a nice pass from the midfield to Joaquin Correa who then found his partner Ciro Immobile on the left side. The striker went it alone on the left side against Raphael, yet was unable to get a clean strike with his left foot and the goalkeeper made no mistake of saving the shot.
Minutes later, Cagliari opened the scoring with a goal from Giovanni Simeone. A header from Joao Pedro beat Luiz Felipe and fed the ball directly to Simeone. The forward beat Stefan Radu and fired the ball to the top left corner, with Thomas Strakosha having no chance of stopping the shot, and gave the Rossoblu a 1-0 lead in this contest.
Lazio controlled possession for most of the first half, yet were unable to capitalize. Cagliari had the best chance in the 45th minute at the end of a counterattack. With Lazio playing very high, Simeone retrieved the ball, sending it up right side where Radja Nainggolan got to the ball first before Francesco Acerbi and then raced through one-on-one with Strakhosha. However, the goalkeeper bailed Lazio out with a fine save, keeping the score at 1-0.
In the 58th minute Lazio came close to tying the match off a corner kick from Alberto. The Spaniard delivered ball nicely into the box where Lucas Leiva connected with a header, however the ball went just wide left of the net.
In the 72nd minute of the match, it looked as if Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was pushed from the back by Fabrizio Cacciatore in the box with the Serbian going to the ground. The referee allowed play to go on, with Cagliari advancing the other way on the counterattack. With Lazio only having Manuel Lazzari back to defend, Cagliari shot the ball up to Simone. Although players came back to help defend, Simeone had a clear break on the left side after a nice pass from Nainggolan, however the striker shot well over, missing another great opportunity to put this game out of reach for Lazio.
Just minutes later, Cagliari once again had another opportunity as Felipe mistimed his challenge for the ball against Pedro which allowed the midfielder to go by the defender and have a clear break at goal. Acerbi did a great job to make a nice block and prevent the Brazilian from scoring.
Lazio’s relentless pressure and constant attack looked as if it were going to pay off in the 88th minute. Outside the box Correa made a nice pass to Jony to the left side, but the winger fired well over, squandering a good chance to tie the match.
It had looked as if Cagliari were going to leave the Sardegna Arena with the full three points, however, Lazio’s relentless pressure and will to score finally paid off. Jony delivered a pass to Acerbi near the corner flag on the left side, with the defender sending a cross into the box and Savic making a good effort to get it back to Alberto. The midfielder made no mistake getting his shot on target and finding the back of the net. Although Rafael got a hand on the shot, it was not enough to keep the ball out.
After tying the match late, it was Lazio again on the attack. In the 98th minute, Lazzari delivered a cross into the box with Cagliari getting the ball but clearing poorly. After recovering the ball, Jony sent a pass into the box with Felipe Caicedo using his body and being well-positioned to head the ball into the back of the net and give Lazio the full three points.
Key takeaways
With the win, Lazio now extend their winning streak to a season-high eight games. During their winning streak they have beaten teams such as Fiorentina, Torino, Juventus and now Cagliari. The recent run which the Biancocelesti have been on has been impressive as they now trail by only three points behind Juventus and Inter in the battle for first place.
Caicedo continues to produce for Lazio coming off the bench. The Ecuadorian has scored in all of his last three matches, with two of those goals coming in extra time to help Lazio win their matches. After extending his contract this season, the forward has rewarded the Biancocelesti in the best possible way.
As for Cagliari, their impressive run of going unbeaten in their last 13 games has come to an end. Although it was a tough loss to take, the club still sees themselves sitting in fifth place with 29 points, only three points back from Roma.
Man of the match
Luis Alberto continues to have a strong campaign for Lazio. The midfielder leads the way in the league with eleven assists and was instrumental in this match.
He continues to find different ways to help Lazio win this season, from set-pieces, passing or scoring. Alberto’s goal help set up an exciting finish to this match with Lazio winning in the 98th minute from a Caicedo goal. Alberto seems to have found his form from 2017/18 which helped Lazio win many games that season.