Lazio hit six past 10-man Sassuolo in a wild 6-2 win at the Mapei Stadium on Tuesday night, Tijjani Noslin scoring twice in the second half as Gennaro Gattuso's unbeaten side moved three points clear at the top of Serie A — despite having two penalties saved.
Eight goals, a red card and two missed penalties barely tell the story of a frantic Matchday 9 opener. Lazio led inside two minutes, were pegged back, scored three times in a breathless opening, and still found room to waste two spot-kicks before Noslin finished the job.
Four goals in 16 minutes
Kenneth Taylor swept Lazio ahead in the second minute after a long VAR check, only for Kristian Thorstvedt to level for Sassuolo five minutes later with a first-time finish. Gustav Isaksen restored the lead on 13 minutes, and Romano Floriani Mussolini tapped in his first Serie A goal three minutes later — four goals in the opening 16 minutes of a Serie A match for the first time since Atalanta against Bologna in April 2019, as Football Italia noted.
Thorstvedt's night then turned: scorer on seven minutes, he was sent off on 32 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Mattia Zaccagni. Even with 10 men, Sassuolo refused to fold — Sebastiano Esposito made it 3-2 on 43 minutes — but Zaccagni's free header in first-half stoppage time restored Lazio's two-goal cushion at the break.
Two penalties saved, Noslin still strikes twice
The second half should have been a procession. Instead, Stefano Turati saved a weak Zaccagni penalty on 51 minutes and then denied Davide Frattesi from the spot 10 minutes later. In between and after, Noslin did what the penalty takers could not: he bent in Lazio's fifth on 55 minutes from a Zaccagni assist, then completed his double with a screamer from outside the area, set up by Nigerian substitute Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, who had come on at half-time.
Reuters reported the result leaves Lazio on 25 points from nine games — eight wins and a draw — three clear of Inter, who visit bottom club Venezia on Wednesday. It is the first time Lazio have gone unbeaten through their first nine league games since 1999-2000, the season they last won the Scudetto — a comparison Gattuso's players will hear all week, however hard their coach tries to keep feet on the ground after a win that followed Saturday's hard-fought success against Parma.
So what: Lazio are no longer a surprise
This was not a scrappy 1-0 built on defending. Lazio scored six away from home, created enough to score nine, and did it with goals shared around the team — Taylor, Isaksen, Floriani Mussolini, Zaccagni and a Noslin brace. The title race now has to take them seriously: Inter can cut the gap in Venice, but the pressure has flipped. Elsewhere in Serie A's midweek round, the chaos continues — Massimiliano Allegri begins a two-match ban when Napoli face his old club Juventus, and every contender is dropping points somewhere. Lazio, so far, are not.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Six goals, two penalties missed and still a rout — that is what title contenders look like on an off night from the spot. Gattuso has built the league's most relentless side, and the 1999-2000 echo is no longer a joke at Lazio's expense. The test is whether this squad, thinned by injuries and fuelled by momentum, still looks this ruthless in March. Are Lazio now the real favourites for the Scudetto, or will Inter and Napoli reel them in? Let us know in the comments.
