Ciro scores midway through the first half, then a great reaction from the Salento team who equalize with Almqvist in the 85th minute and overtake with Di Francesco in the 87th minute
– Lecce
The Via del Mare in Lecce is confirmed as a taboo for Sarri (who has never won in this stadium) and for Lazio who make up for their third consecutive defeat on the Salento field. It ends exactly like last season, with a 2-1 comeback from the hosts. Like in January, he unlocked Immobile in the first half, then Lazio disappeared in the second half and Lecce, with a whole-hearted performance, came to the fore in the final with a one-two punch signed by Almqvist and Di Francesco. For D’Aversa, the adventure on the Lecce bench begins in the best possible way. Very bad, however, Lazio, which also in the first half shows a too staid and unproductive game. And then in the second half he highlights worrying character limitations.
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The match begins at a slow trot. The condition, for both teams, is still approximate and so the movements are soft, dribbling is sought more than speed. The Lazio midfield, in which Sarri prefers new signing Kamada to Vecino, is at ease in this situation, but is struggling to find space forward. Lecce, on the other hand, is too cautious. D’Aversa lines him up with a 4-2-3-1 in which Rafia is a “false attacking midfielder” with the task of controlling Cataldi. And a few meters further back, a similar task is entrusted to Ramadani who sticks to Luis Alberto. The intention of the Lecce coach to turn off the Lazio sources of play is clear. The plan went well for about twenty minutes, during which Lazio did nothing and Lecce, in addition to controlling the match, showed up on two occasions near Provedel. Going close first with Strefezza (shooting just wide) and then with Banda (finish stopped by Provedel). After halfway through the first half, however, Lecce lost their measure, the Lazio midfielders had less pressure and managed to build with less difficulty. And at the first opportunity Lazio passes. Romagnoli verticalizes for Luis Alberto who immediately sorts for Immobile, whose shot ends up on the net despite Falcone getting his hands on it. For the Lazio captain, the tradition of always scoring in the first official match of the season since he has been at Lazio has been renewed. Lecce accuses the blow and fails to regroup. And before the interval, he came close to doubling the double on two occasions. With Immobile himself (high finish from a good position) then with Lazzari who, instead of serving Zaccagni all alone, prefers to shoot from a decentralized position: Falcone manages to repel.
Overtaking Lecce / The second half begins with a more tonic and less wait-and-see Lecce than in the first half of the game. The hosts put their hearts into it and also some good game plots. Already in the 2nd minute they had an excellent opportunity to equalise, but Strefezza’s shot went just wide on Dorgu’s cross. Lazio withdraws the center of gravity too much, but still becomes dangerous on the counterattack. In the 9th minute Immobile puts Felipe Anderson all alone in front of Falcone, but the Brazilian sends out. He begins the swirl of changes. Sarri tries to revive a Lazio in clear difficulty with the entrances of Vecino for Kamada and Isaksen for Anderson. Subsequently the coach will also put in Pellegrini for Lazzari and Pedro for Zaccagni. D’Aversa, to give even more strength to the reaction of his, lets Gallo enter for Dorgu, Blin for Gendrey and Kaba for Rafia. In the central phase of the second half, the Salento team is constantly in the opposing half. Banda, Strefezza and Rafia try: the draw would be deserved, but it doesn’t arrive. Lazio tries to raise its head and goes very close to 2-0 with Immobile. However, the attacker’s shot without fail was deflected onto the crossbar by Falcone. When the worst seems to be behind Sarri’s team, instead the one-two arrives and knocks them down. The 1-1 matured on a shot from the edge of Almqvist, served by Gallo. A minute goes by and the overtaking goal arrives. Di Francesco realizes it, who solves a scrum in the area in the best possible way.
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