Serie A: Lazio beats Sassuolo to stall Napoli’s Scudetto winning celebrations

A draw or a loss against Sassuolo would have given Napoli an unassailable lead before its match at Udinese but Lazio chose to have other plans, registering a comfortable win.

Lazio’s Toma Basic scored the second goal against Sassuolo as his side returned to second spot in the Serie A, over Juventus. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Lazio kept Napoli from sealing the Serie A title for at least another day by beating Sassuolo 2-0 on Wednesday.

The result means that Napoli needs a point at Udinese on Thursday to win its first Italian league title since Diego Maradona led the club to its only two championships in 1987 and 1990.

Felipe Anderson put Lazio ahead early with one touch following a ball over the top from Marcos Antonio and then Toma Basic doubled the Roman club’s advantage in stoppage time by finishing off a counterattack.

Lazio moved within 15 points of runaway leader Napoli and back into second place ahead of Juventus, which beat Lecce 2-1 earlier.

Relegation-threatened Cremonese held Champions League semifinalist AC Milan 1-1 at the San Siro, where Junior Messias scored a late equalizer for the Rossoneri after David Okereke had put the visitors ahead.

Inter Milan, which will face Milan in the Champions League semifinals, routed relegation-threatened Hellas Verona 6-0 with braces from Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez.

Also, Roma was held to a 1-1 draw at Silvio Berlusconi’s Monza.

Stephan El Shaarawy put Roma ahead early following a goalkeeping blunder but Luca Caldirola equalized for Monza before the break with a difficult volley following a free kick.