Italy: Lazio draw 1-1 at Hellas Verona

Lazio Rome were hung 1-1 during their trip to Hellas Verona, first relegated, but nevertheless consolidates their fourth place in Serie A, after Monday’s match shifted from the 21st day. The team by Maurizio Sarri is indeed taking advantage of the defeats of Atalanta Bergamo (5th) and AC Milan (6th) this weekend to grab a head start (39 pts against 38) over his two competitors in the race to qualification for the next Champions League. The Romans opened the scoring thanks to a superb pivot shot in the top corner of the former Barcelonan Pedro, after a lobbed pass from Danilo Cataldi (45th). But Hellas equalized after the break by the Belgian Cyril Ngonge, who came to head off a free kick from Darko Lazovic (51st). Mattia Zaccagni had the winning ball for Lazio in added time, but his backheel was stopped by the opposing goalkeeper just in front of his line (90 + 6). Lazio remained on two missteps in the league and in the Cup of Italy. After the correction inflicted on AC Milan at the end of January (4-0) at the Olympic Stadium, the Laziali had been held in check by Fiorentina (1-1) at home, before being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Cup by Juventus (1-0).