Lazio 3-1 Inter: Sarri´s men strike twice late on to end Inzaghi´s unbeaten start

Lazio scored twice late on as they came from behind to beat Inter 3-1 and end Simone Inzaghi’s unbeaten start in Serie A with his new club.

Ivan Perisic opened the scoring from the spot after just 12 minutes at the Stadio Olimpico, before Lazio’s Ciro Immobile equalised with a penalty of his own after the break.

Controversy followed as Felipe Anderson tapped in on the rebound from Immobile’s strike with nine minutes remaining, with Inter’s Federico Dimarco seemingly down on the ground and injured in the build-up to the goal.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic added a third with a late header as Inter’s unbeaten start to their title defence, under the guidance of former Lazio boss Inzaghi, abruptly ended. The result leaves them four points behind leaders Napoli, who host Torino on Sunday.

Lazio’s Luiz Felipe was red-carded after the full-time whistle for an altercation with former team-mate Joaquin Correa as tempers flared.

5/50 – Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has scored 5 goals against Inter, his best victim in Serie A – tonight goal is his 50th with Lazio, in all competitions. Sergeant.#LazioInter

— OptaPaolo  (@OptaPaolo) October 16, 2021

Lucas Leiva rifled the first chance of the contest narrowly over before Elseid Hysaj carelessly fouled Nicolo Barella to offer the visitors a penalty, one that Perisic coolly slotted into the bottom-right corner.

Toma Basic and Milinkovic-Savic were then both denied by Samir Handanovic, either side of Perisic’s long-range effort, which Pepe Reina tipped around the post.

Pedro spurned the final first-half opportunity as he drilled wide, with Matteo Darmian tamely heading into Reina’s hands following Dimarco’s delivery after the interval.

Milinkovic-Savic looked to level up with a swerving right-footed strike but fired agonisingly wide on the hour mark before Alessandro Bastoni was, perhaps harshly, adjudged to have handled Patric’s header three minutes later.

Immobile converted from 12 yards, with Pedro smashing over eight minutes later as Lazio pressed on for a second goal.

Inzaghi’s Inter were punished late on as Anderson found Immobile before the former pounced on Handanovic’s parry. Inter were infuriated as they felt the ball should have been put out for Dimarco’s apparent injury, sparking a flurry of bookings as tempers boiled.

Milinkovic-Savic then added his 50th goal in all competitions for Lazio as he headed into the top-left corner from Luis Alberto’s free-kick to complete a memorable turnaround.

What does it mean? Unhappy return for Inzaghi as Inter lose ground in title race

Inzaghi managed Lazio 197 times in Serie A but did not enjoy his return to his former home as Maurizio Sarri’s team came from behind to upset the champions.

That was just Inter’s third loss against Saturday’s opponents in 11 top-flight meetings, while Lazio extended their unbeaten run at home in the league to 17 games.

Meanwhile, the Nerrazzuri drop early ground in the title race as they remain four points behind Napoli and also adrift of fast-starting Milan.

Almost perfect from Patric

Patric won the penalty to get his side back in the game but it was his defensive performance that shone through against Inzaghi’s free-scoring visitors.

The centre-back produced four clearances, matching defensive partner Luiz Felipe for the most in the game, while completing a game-high 78 passes – 22 of those in the opposition half.

Dire Dzeko

Edin Dzeko had scored six goals in seven league games but struggled here before his second-half removal that allowed Lautaro Martinez to enter the action.

The striker won just two of his four duels and failed to find the target with either of his two goal attempts as he was largely muted by the combination of Patric and Luiz Felipe.

Key Opta facts

– Inter have lost a Serie A game from a winning position for the first time since July 2020 against Bologna.
– This was just Inter’s second defeat in their last 30 games played in Serie A.
– Lazio are unbeaten in their last 17 home games in Serie A (W15, D2), their longest such streak in the competitions since 2002, when they strung together 22 undefeated matches.
– Lazio have scored at least three goals in a Serie A game against Inter for the first time since May 2013.
– Perisic is the first Serie A player to have scored a right-footed penalty and a left-footed penalty since 2004-05, the point at which Opta began collecting this data.
– Milinkovic-Savic has scored five goals against Inter, more than he has managed against another other Serie A team.
– Only Lazio and Napoli (four each) have taken more penalties than Inter (three) in Serie A this season.

What’s next?

Lazio travel to Hellas Verona on Sunday of next weekend, while Inter host Juventus on the same day. Both have midweek European home games first, with Lazio facing Marseille in the Europa League on Thursday, and Inter taking on Sheriff on Tuesday in the Champions League.