Kenneth Taylor scored his first goal of the season and Diego Carlos put through his own net as Lazio beat Parma 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday night to go top of Serie A — a seventh win in eight games for Gennaro Gattuso's unbeaten side, and the best start to a season in the club's history.
For 50 minutes, though, this looked like the night the run stalled. Parma, 19th and on four points, counter-attacked with real menace and only goalkeeper Christos Mandas kept Lazio level at the break.
Mandas stands firm, then Taylor strikes
David Romero forced Mandas to parry with his legs inside six minutes and the Greek keeper then flew to palm away an El Bilal Toure header, before beating away another Romero effort on the counter. At the other end Gustav Isaksen headed a Mattia Zaccagni cross against the crossbar and had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside just before half-time, as Football Italia reported from the Olimpico.
Five minutes after the restart, Lazio finally broke through. Reda Belahyane's pass ricocheted off Diego Carlos and Taylor ran onto the loose ball, finding the angle to beat Edoardo Corvi with a low drive to the near post. Eight minutes later it was 2-0: Belahyane won the ball back high up the pitch, Taylor lifted it wide to Nuno Tavares, and the full-back's dangerous ball across the face of goal was turned into his own net by the unfortunate Carlos.
Lazio wasted a string of chances to finish the game — Zaccagni fired over, Davide Frattesi whistled one past the post — and were made to sweat in the 95th minute when teenage substitute Simone Lontani's overhit cross sailed over Mandas, clipped the inside of the far post and crossed the line, confirmed by goal-line technology. It was too late to change the outcome.
Belahyane, the metronome behind both goals
The Moroccan midfielder was at the heart of everything Lazio did well. Belahyane instigated both goals, dictated the tempo in a side that finished with 68 per cent possession, and showed again why Gattuso has built his midfield around him. On a night when an African midfielder ran a Serie A title race game, that should not pass unnoticed.
Gattuso, typically, refused to get carried away. "We frankly don't really belong up there," he told Sky Sport Italia after the game. "I appreciated the mentality of the team. We raised the tempo and took control of the situation." Parma's defeat was their third in a row under Alberto Gilardino, after 3-0 losses to Inter and Torino, and leaves them deep in the relegation places.
So what: Lazio top, and Inter must answer on Sunday
Lazio move to 22 points — seven wins and a single 2-2 draw with AC Milan, the only points they have dropped all season, as theScore noted in its Saturday round-up — four points clear of city rivals Roma, who drew 3-3 at Napoli earlier on Saturday in a thriller of their own. Inter can respond when they face Fiorentina on Sunday, but for at least one night Rome's sky-blue half owns first place outright.
The context makes it more remarkable: Lazio have not finished in the top six in any of the last three seasons, and this run already includes a 3-0 win away at Juventus. Gattuso may say his side do not belong up there — the table, eight games in, is starting to disagree with him.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: This is no longer a fast start, it is a title challenge. Lazio are unbeaten, they win in different ways — a rout in Turin last week, a grind in Rome tonight — and they have a coach honest enough to say they do not belong at the top while drilling a mentality that keeps putting them there. Inter and Roma should take them very seriously.
Can Gattuso's Lazio really last the pace in the Scudetto race — or will Inter restore order on Sunday? Let us know what you think in the comment section.
