Lazio drop points in Champions League race with draw to Fiorentina
Riding the wave of their emphatic victory against AC Milan, Lazio went ahead after a mere eight minutes on this occasion.
La Viola had kept possession fairly well in the opening stages, but Nicolo Casale scored his first league goal with the sort of instinctive flick usually reserved for players boasting a far more prolific record.
The visitors carried on moving the ball but lacked a cutting edge, with Luis Alberto squandering the game’s next notable opportunity after dispossessing Luca Ranieri.
Luka Jovic had two openings shortly before the half-hour mark. The Serbian’s first effort was tipped over by Ivan Provedel and Biancocelesti bodies scrambled to block his second, ensuring Lazio remain the only side not to concede inside 30 minutes of a league match this term.
This meant Fiorentina needed something special having previously endured two matches without a goal, and Nico Gonzalez provided just that after the interval by embarking on a mazy run, lending the ball to Giacomo Bonaventura and taking it back before curling a beauty of a strike into the top corner.
Gonzalez couldn’t find the same corner with his first-time effort when the ball popped out to him shortly before the hour mark, and Felipe Anderson dragged his effort wide at the other end.
In a sign of Fiorentina’s growing attacking confidence, Jovic then unleashed a header that forced Provedel into an impressive save.
Maurizio Sarri turned to Ciro Immobile as he searched for a winner, although Lazio’s talisman could only strike wide minutes after his introduction.
Riccardo Saponara was denied by Provedel before Nikola Milenkovic struck the bar from the ensuing corner in the final moments, as Fiorentina recovered from back-to-back defeats but had to settle for a point.
Meanwhile, Lazio’s unbeaten run was extended to five matches in all competitions, although that will do little to improve the mood after they wasted the opportunity to take the second spot in Serie A.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina)