Lazio found their edge again in Venice, where Gennaro Gattuso’s side survived an uneasy evening before leaving with a 2-0 Serie A win. The result gave the Biancocelesti a fourth victory from five league matches and lifted them level on 13 points with Roma and Inter Milan.
The move
Gattuso’s team travelled to newly promoted Venezia for Saturday’s fifth round fixture under pressure to turn possession of their early-season momentum into another result. They did so with ruthless efficiency rather than control.
Lazio registered only two attempts on target, yet both ended in the net. Matia Zaccagni opened the scoring five minutes after the interval from the penalty spot, before Tijjani Noslin doubled the lead on the hour.
Venezia had already been denied a route into the game in the 17th minute. Goalkeeper Christos Mandas gave away a penalty but then stopped the kick himself, a decisive intervention as the home side continued to push Lazio back.
The visitors were shaken at times and did not dominate the contest, but their defensive resistance and Mandas’s save protected a clean sheet.
Lazio join the leading group
The win moved Lazio into third place, level with the division’s top two. Earlier in the day, Roma and Inter had drawn 2-2 at the Olimpico, leaving all three clubs on 13 points.
It is a striking opening to the campaign for Lazio, particularly given a low-cost transfer window and a supporters’ boycott directed at club president Claudio Lotito. Gattuso’s side have nevertheless collected 12 points from a possible 15 and remain firmly in the race at the summit.
