Boulaye Dia scored twice and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru also scored as Lazio overcame Dynamo kyiv in the Europa League but harsh refereeing resulted in two red cards.
The Aquile started their UEFA campaign on neutral ground at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg due to the current situation in Ukraine. Samuel Gigot was injured, Taty Castellanos and Tijjani Noslin were only on the bench. Dynamo were without Matviy Ponomarenko, Denys Popov, Mykola Mykhaylenko, Nazar Voloshyn and Volodymyr Shepelev.
Just like the Champions League, this new format has only one main draw and each team faces eight different opponents, four at home and four away. The top eight teams qualify directly, teams ranked 9 to 24 participate in the play-offs and teams ranked 25 to 36 are eliminated.
Find out how it went on the LIVEBLOG.
It took less than five minutes to break the deadlock as Dynamo failed to clear effectively, so Dia completed a give-and-go with Pedro, burst into the box and fired a low finish into the far corner.
Lazio take early lead against Dynamo Kyiv in 4 minutes ????
???? @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/Q9FXqB4xCp
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Dynamo have suffered another blow as they have lost defender Brayan Ceballos, who appears to have suffered a serious thigh strain.
Ivan Provedel deflected a delicate free-kick from Mykola Shaparenko and Loum Tchaouna’s shot was saved.
Lazio wreaked havoc with two goals in 120 seconds, first from a poor clearance by Volodymyr Brazhko which was intercepted by Matias Vecino for an immediate through ball, allowing Dele-Bashiru to fire into the roof of the net.
Moments later, a well-worked move saw Dele-Bashiru cross from the right and Dia head a free-kick into the near top corner.
Lazio scored two goals in the space of a minute and now lead 3-0 over Dynamo kyiv ????
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Provedel was called into action for Oleksandr Pikhalonok’s effort, but more importantly for a shot that managed to fingertip a dipping Brazhko free-kick under the bar and push away Andriy Yarmolenko’s curling shot around the far post.
Gil Patric suffered a muscle injury while trying to clear the ball, but he came back and managed to block Yarmolenko before limping off.
Pedro was unlucky and could not make it 4-0 for Lazio on the hour mark as he was released by an inspired pass from Dia and the finish was deflected inside the far post, with Gustav Isaksen’s follow-up cleared off the line.
Dynamo kyiv were reduced to 10 players in rather controversial circumstances. Maksym Braharu slipped and stepped on the ankle of Mattia Zaccagni, who appeared to be going for the ball. VAR intervened and a red card was awarded after an on-pitch analysis.
A header from Castellanos was deflected onto the roof of the goal, but another harsh red card was handed out, this time to Noslin. The Lazio forward had been on the pitch for just three minutes when an elbow hit Dubinchak on the nose and was deemed intentional enough to be sent off.
Provedel kept a clean sheet for Lazio with a save as Vladyslav Vanat’s free-kick cracked the wall.
Dynamo Kyiv 0-3 Lazio
Dia 5, 35 (L), Dele-Bashiru 34 (L)
Expelled: Braharu 72 (D), Noslin 82 (G)
