Lazio again scores late to rescue 1-1 draw against Juventus
Daniella Matar | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years AGO
MILAN (AP) — Lazio scored another stoppage-time goal to rescue a 1-1 draw at home to Juventus in Serie A on Sunday.
Juventus appeared to be heading for a win and into second spot after Cristiano Ronaldo’s first-half goal but substitute Felipe Caicedo pounced deep in stoppage time.
Caicedo had netted a stoppage-time winner in Lazio’s last league match — against Torino — and also scored late at Zenit St. Petersburg on Wednesday to salvage a 1-1 draw in the Champions League.
“The goal is all down to (Joaquín) Correa,” Caicedo said. “We were convinced something would happen. But I’m really speechless now.
“Juventus didn’t play for the last 15 minutes. We never give up and the credit for the draw has to go to everyone. With this mentality and focus we can fight right to the end, we needed a match like that against Torino and it happened again today.”
Nine-time defending champion Juventus was fourth, three points behind leader AC Milan, which hosts Hellas Verona later. Atalanta remained level on points with Juventus after drawing 1-1 at home with Inter Milan.
Lazio was missing a number of players, including European Golden Shoe winner Ciro Immobile, after conflicting results for tests for COVID-19.
Juventus took the lead in the 15th minute when Juan Cuadrado beat a couple of Lazio defenders on the right before sending in a low cross for an unmarked Ronaldo to tap in from point blank range.
It was Ronaldo’s third goal in his two league matches since recovering from the coronavirus, which kept him out for three weeks.
Lazio almost leveled shortly after when Sergej Milinković-Savić nodded a cross on in front of goal and Vedat Muriqi was just short of making contact at the far post.
Ronaldo went even closer but he curled an effort off the top of the right post.
The 35-year-old also saw a free kick palmed out from under the bar by Lazio goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo took off Ronaldo and attacking midfielder Dejan Kulusevski in the 76th as he opted for a more defensive approach and that proved a mistake against a team famous for scoring last-minute goals of late.
Lazio pinned Juventus back and it found the equalizer with practically the last kick of the match. Correa fed Caicedo, who swiveled to fire into the bottom right corner.
RECOVERY
Both Inter and Atalanta were looking to recover from midweek defeats in the Champions League against Real Madrid and Liverpool, respectively.
Inter broke the deadlock in the 58th when Ashley Young crossed in from the left and, with his back to goal, Lautaro Martínez flicked a header into the far corner.
Substitute Aleksej Miranchuk leveled 11 minutes from time, drilling into the bottom right corner from the edge of the area.
OTHER MATCHES
Henrikh Mkhitaryan netted a hat trick to help Roma win 3-1 at Genoa.
Roma moved third, two points below Milan.
Genoa slipped into the relegation zone after Torino drew 0-0 with bottom-place Crotone to move above Genoa on goal difference.
Crotone defender Sebastiano Luperto was sent off late on following a second yellow card.
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This story has been corrected to show that Juventus is three points behind Milan, not two.