One goal per half, Lazio beats Empoli and stays in the Champions League race

Lazio-Empoli 2-0

Lazio beat Empoli at the Stadio Olimpico in the 'lunch match' of the thirty-sixth day of Serie A and thanks to the three points won it still remains in the race for fifth place, the last one useful for qualification to the next Champions League through the league. The zero in the standings weighs instead for Empoli, still in the hot zone of the standings.

The course of the match, already from the first minutes, seems to be heading toward a domination of possession by Lazio, while Empoli tries to strike on the counterattack. It took a corner kick in the middle of the first half recovery to unlock the situation: cross from the Zaccagni crossbar, Patric intervened in the split taking advantage of an opponent mistake in the defensive pairings and beat Caprile for 1-0.

The resumption remains lively, Empoli tries to become more proactive but in attack does not strike (it will be confirmed without goals to its credit for the third consecutive day). On the other side, Lazio manages to close the score only at 89'89;: enveloping maneuver of Tudor’s team, Pedro serves Vecino who does not miss in front of the opponent’s extreme defender.

In the salvage, Empoli came close to scoring the flag goal with Cacace, but Mandas kept good watch and preserved his unbeaten streak: it ends 2-0, for Lazio è the fourth win in the last five league matches, fifth in the last six if you consider the return match of the Coppa Italia semifinal (won 2-1 but not enough for qualification to the final) against Juventus.