Lazio stands alone at the top of the standings; Parma loses 2-1 at the Olimpico

Lazio’s dazzling start to the season continues, as they also defeated Parma 2-1 on Matchday 8 of Serie A. At the Olimpico, a goal by Taylor and an own goal by Diego Carlos once again brought joy to Rino Gattuso in the head-to-head coaching matchup between 2006 World Cup champions—Gattuso and Alberto Gilardino—with Gilardino’s team suffering its third loss in three games: in fact, Lontani’s late goal in stoppage time wasn’t enough for him to secure his first point.

After a more aggressive start to the match by the Ducali—so much so that Mandas was forced to make a couple of decisive saves almost immediately—it was Isaksen who came close to scoring in the 25th minute: Zaccagni delivered a creative cross, and the Dane met it with a header that hit the crossbar. Isaksen then had a goal disallowed in the 40th minute for offside, before Taylor opened the scoring early in the second half: the former Ajax player picked up a poorly cleared ball from Diego Carlos and beat Corvi at the near post in the 50th minute. Frattesi, however, missed the chance to double the lead immediately, as the Biancocelesti took control of the game and pulled away in the 58th minute: Taylor played the ball to Nuno Tavares, whose cross was deflected into the net by Diego Carlos for an own goal.

The excitement wasn’t over yet, however, as Lontani managed to pull one back in the 95th minute with a wayward cross that ended up beating Mandas. Despite a few nerve-wracking final minutes, Lazio still managed to win their seventh game out of eight and climb to 22 points, taking sole possession of first place in the standings—at least for one night: Inter will be called upon to respond on Sunday in the lunchtime match at San Siro against Fiorentina. Parma, meanwhile, remains stuck on 4 points and could even drop to the bottom of the standings if Venezia manages to get a result at Marassi against Genoa, led by another World Cup champion, De Rossi.