The 21st round in the Italian league continued tonight (Monday) with a pair of games, when Lazio missed an opportunity to overtake Roma again and remained in fourth place after a 1:1 draw at Verona. Sampdoria was on the way to a victory that should have given them hope at the bottom, but they lost 2:2 to Monza in the 99th minute.
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Verona – Lazio 1:1
Maurizio Sarri’s team did not know how to keep the advantage at the Bentagudi Stadium and remained in fourth place. The veteran Pedro broke a drought of almost five months in the league with a beautiful goal in the 45th minute, after receiving a ball from Danilo Cataldi, he passed to the left and while turning he sent to the far connections, but six minutes into the second half the tie came. Cyril Angong, the 22-year-old Belgian whom Verona brought in just two weeks ago from Groningen, celebrated a debut goal in his first game in the lineup when he knocked in the free ball picked up by Draco Lazovic from the left. Lazovic almost completed a turnaround two minutes later, but it was stopped by the crossbar. Verona collected nine points in the last six rounds (after only six in the first 15) and narrowed the gap from the safe haven to only four.
Monza – Sampdoria 2:2
The 1991 Italian champions thought they were starting their recovery, but suffered a heartbreak in the 99th minute when Tommaso Augello brought down Andrea Petagna in the box and midfielder Matteo Pesina slotted in to equalize deep into stoppage time. Sampdoria came after four consecutive losses and when it is in a miserable situation below the red line: with a single digit amount of points and goals. Manolo Gabbiadini provided his first double (12 and 58) in Serie A since April 2016 and raised the team’s tally to 10 league goals this season, but Petagna answered once (32) and as mentioned squeezed the dramatic penalty. Monza, which surprised Juventus in Turin in the previous round and stands calmly in 10th place, has already counted seven games without a loss.
The games of the 22nd round:
Milan – Turin
Empoli – Spezia
Lecce – Rome
Lazio – Atalanta
Udinese – Sassuolo
Bologna – Monza
Juventus – Fiorentina
Naples – Carmonza
Verona – Salerno
Sampdoria – Inter