Ciro Immobile made Lazio history.
Lazio defeated Dutch side Feyenoord 1-0 in the fourth leg of their 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League (UCL) Group E match at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, on Monday (Aug. 8).
Lazio picked up three valuable points against Feyenoord, who were battling for second place in the group. With two wins, one draw, and one loss, Lazio moved into second place in the group, overtaking Feyenoord, who have two wins and two losses.
Lazio only had one shot on target all game, and it was the one that got them the win. In the first minute of the second half, Felipe Andersson slipped a through ball into the back of the Feyenoord defense. Immobile was on hand to slot the ball past the keeper. It was a goal worthy of Immobile, a master of penetration.
Feyenoord had the better of the play, but Ivan Provedel saved all three of their best chances. Lazio won the game, with Provedel protecting the backline with saves and composure that was the hallmark of Serie A’s best goalkeeper last season.
With the win, Immobile scored his 200th goal for Lazio. He reached the milestone in his eighth season with Lazio, having joined the club in 2016. Only four players had previously scored more than 200 goals for a club in that span: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich 277), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain 224), Lionel Messi (Barcelona 219), and Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur 216).
Immobile has represented Lazio for the past eight years. He has won the Serie A scoring title four times, three of them with Lazio. His 36 league goals in 2019-2020 tied the Serie A record for most goals in a season, and he became the first Italian player since Francesco Totti to win the European Golden Shoe (consensus top scorer in a major European league) in 13 years. His form was so high that he never had a season with fewer than 10 goals. He was on track to surpass the record of 159 goals for Lazio, set by legendary striker Silvio Piola in the 1940s.
Despite being such a legendary goal scorer, this season at 33 years old has been a goal-less one, to the point where there were concerns that he might finally be on the decline. He’s scored just three goals in the league and none in the UCL until this game 메이저사이트 against Feyenoord. The lack of goals has seen Lazio, last season’s Serie A runners-up, drop to 10th place after 11 rounds.
Immobile’s resurgence has never been more welcome. However, coach Maurizio Sarri can’t just celebrate the victory and the achievement. Key players Luis Alberto and Mattia Chacani were injured. “I hope the victory doesn’t come at too high a price. I’m a bit worried,” he said after the match.
