Lazio – AC Milan: Milan Paint Rome Red In Red Card Bloodbath (0-1)

AC Milan beat Lazio 0-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in a game that went full tilt in the second half. A late goal from substitute Noah Okafor sealed the game for the Rossoneri after no less than three Lazio players were sent off in the second half. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Gaurav Krishnan. 

Some football games are just riveting to watch because of the intensity on display. When tempers flare and players begin to get much more physical and borderline dangerous with their challenges, it makes for a fierce and fascinating spectacle. This match was a paradox, but it got there eventually. The game started rather tepidly but suddenly sprung to life late on. It was a first half lacking any major goal threat but that went full tilt, firing on all afterburners in the second half. There was an air of intensity about this clash, but it would take almost sixty minutes for the smelting furnace to get hot enough.  

Rome has its heralded cathedrals and bustling streets, but in the heart of every Italian from the city, the spirit of being Roman resides deeply embedded into their psyche. “Are you not entertained?”, the line from Ridley Scott’s 2000 film Gladiator echoed into the night sky as the dust from the flares settled as this game at the Stadio Olimpico drew to a close on the night. 

It’s uncertain what Maurizio Sarri and Stefano Pioli said to their players at half-time but the second half was Italian football at its notorious best. Three red cards. Yes, three red cards, and all for Lazio – Luca Pellegrini close to the sixty-minute mark, and . . .