Reduced to ten men due to Guilbert's expulsion and down a goal due to Castellanos' penalty, Giampaolo's team fought hard and found the equalizer in the second half with Tete Morente, before surrendering to Marusic's goal late on.
Baroni's Lazio regains victory after the heavy defeat at the Olimpico against Inter and momentarily catches the Nerazzurri in third place. A willing Lecce thus fails to score points and remains dangerously in the lower areas of the table in fourteenth place.
The Biancocelesti seem to have erased the Olimpico defeat from their memory right from the start, even if against them they have a team that tries to react blow for blow. The first opportunity for Lazio was scored by Lazzari, who on a low cross from Tavares attempted a shot from the edge which did not surprise Falcone.
The hosts try to react with Tete Morente, who after a corner volleys, challenging Provedel. However, it is Lazio who becomes increasingly dangerous with Coulibaly forced to save after a shot from Dia touched by Isaksen, and the Dane himself becomes dangerous a little later by trying to exploit a good ball from Castellanos but Falcone blocks safely.
The poison in the queue
When the two teams seem to have to go to half-time at 0-0, the match takes a turning point: Lazio counterattack with Castellanos shooting twice, on the first Falcone does well to block, on the second with a sure shot Guilbert instead opposes with a hand. Expulsion and penalty kick for the Biancocelesti which Castellanos himself didn't miss: Lazio ahead at Via del Mare at the end of the first half.
Lecce pride
It seems done for the former Baroni's team, leading by a goal and a man, but in the second half Lecce throws pride onto the field and after only five minutes they find the equalizer with a nice conclusion from Tete Morente who emerges from a forest of men and Provedel hole.
Lazio thus has to start all over again and tries, thanks to their numerical superiority, to besiege Lecce's area, who however defends themselves with order and also tries to restart when they can. Gimapaolo tries to insert fresh forces by replacing Krstovic with Rafia with Pierret.
In the 64th minute Castellanos found Dia who put it in, but the former Girona striker was in an irregular position and the goal was disallowed. In the hope of finding the wild card to open the Salento rearguard, Baroni also plays the Pedro card who takes over Dia, as well as Tchaouna who takes Isaksen's place.
The goal you don't expect
Lazio thus begins to push, but Lecce's defense is impeccable. For the final forcing Baroni thus switches to a 4-2-4 also inserting Noslin for Zaccagni and Marusic in place of Lazzari. It was the Montenegrin full-back who managed to find the winning conclusion in the 87th minute which gave Lazio the lead. After the goal, Guendouzi complained that he had been hit by a stone from the stands and took the complaint to the fourth official, but the match resumed.
Lecce angrily tries to rush forward and Kaba heads the crossbar towards the end, then Pierotti sends the tap-in wide. The last chance for the Apulians comes from Tete Morente, who tries a shot which ends up just over.
However, there is no more time for a proud Lecce to find a new equalizer. Giampaolo's team thus had to surrender despite a great match against Lazio who found a difficult and precious victory with the man least expected.
