LAZ ORDERS
Lazio finish with EIGHT MEN against AC Milan as referee ‘loses control’ with ex-Arsenal bad boy among red cards
Stefano Pioli reveals what was said in his row with Maurizio Sarri
LAZIO’S home clash with AC Milan ended in farce after they received THREE red cards in the “ugly” showdown.
The hosts were reduced to ten men when Luca Pellegrini received his second caution on 57 minutes.
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However, it was in the closing stages when tempers really began to boil over as Lazio lost it in the Serie A showdown.
Noah Okafor scored the only goal when breaking the deadlock with only two minutes of normal time remaining.
Then, in the 94th-minute, Adam Marusic was given his marching orders for seemingly something he said after a foul went against them.
TNT Sports commentary team described the scenes as “getting out of hand” before claiming the referee Marco Di Bello had “lost control” as the chaos continued seconds later.
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Milan’s Rafael Leao went into the book after another foul but it was Lazio who ended the game with only EIGHT men.
Former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi was issued a straight red after he reacted to a foul by Christian Pulisic, who was booked, by shoving the American over.
Fortunately the final whistle arrived shortly after, but even that led to a huge confrontation on the pitch and some pushing and shoving between both the Lazio and Milan squads.
One of the most contentious incidents in the explosive match was the second yellow card for Pellegrini.
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He was attempting to shepherd the ball out of play while his team-mate Taty Castellanos was down with a facial injury, only for Pulisic to pounce and stop it going out before he was hauled down by the Lazio star.
That led to a row between their boss Maurizio Sarri and his counterpart Stefano Pioli.
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The Milan boss said: “Sarri told me ‘The ball was going out of play’ – but the referee did not blow the whistle.
“Pulisic is a fair player, he did what he did. I don’t see why the onus should’ve been on us to put the ball out of play. If that is what they wanted, then why didn’t they do it?”
Pioli added: “It was an ugly, tense match. We had a slow tempo in the first half and should’ve moved it around quicker, finding more space.
“It was a balanced game with very few chances. We started better after the break and made the most of Lazio’s errors.”
The win moved Milan to within a point of third-placed Juventus while Lazio remain ninth following the third loss in four.
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