Miroslav Klose scored 20 seconds from the end of injury time to hand Lazio derby honours in a 2-1 victory over Roma on a dreadful day of Serie A football yesterday that saw five out of seven matches finish goalless.
Only three out of 14 teams managed to find the net in a weekend that produced just 14 goals, three less than the previous worst this season.
Yesterday alone there were just five goals in seven games, the other nine being scored in the three matches on Saturday.
But the derby at least provided some drama, albeit controversially.
Pablo Osvaldo had given Roma a sixth minute lead after scoring for the fourth game in a row.
But Simon Kjaer was sent off for bringing down Christian Brocchi in the box and Brazilian Hernanes equalised from the spot before Klose tucked home the late winner.
The opening goal was impressive as Miralem Pjanic took a pass from Fernando Gago and dinked the ball over the Lazio defence for Osvaldo to stride onto and cooly slot home.
But just five minutes into the second half Kjaer tugged at Brocchi’s arm as he ran into the box and although he let go quickly, the Lazio midfielder plunged to the ground.
A penalty was a certainty but the red card seemed harsh for the Denmark centre-back.
Lazio went on to dominate as Klose sent a header against the bar and Djibril Cisse crashed a brilliant volley against the post.
But deep into injury time Roma caved in as Francesco Matuzalem found Klose in the box and his precise finish beat Maarten Stekelenburg.
Bologna were the only other side to score as they won 2-0 at Novara to climb off the foot of the table.
However, that wasn’t enough to drag them out of the bottom three as they remain behind Inter on goal difference.
No team has won more than half of their six matches so far, leaving Juventus ahead of Udinese on goals scored at the top.
Juve were held at Chievo while Udinese finished with 10 men as they failed to overcome Atalanta.
In the second half Juve substitute Alessandro Del Piero rose unmarked to head against the Chievo post.
He was also in the thick of the action at the other end when he hacked clear an effort from Sergio Pellissier that was trickling towards the line.
Juve coach Antonio Conte was nonetheless satisfied with his team.
“I’m bitter about the result but I can say nothing to my team as they were the ones driving the match,” he said.
“They played with the right approach and a good attitude from everyone.
“We had a lot of players come back from international duty and some of them were feeling the effects.
“I’m still happy with our efforts.
“Chievo are an excellent team as they’re showing in the standings, they’re very physical and cover the pitch well.
“And we weren’t at risk of anything. We needed to open the scoring, which didn’t happen and in these situations it’s not unusual to concede.”
Serie A
Atalanta 0
Udinese 0
Att: 15,444.
Red card: Pinzi (U) 63.
Cesena 0
Fiorentina 0
Att: 22,000.
Red card: Mutu (C) 74.
Cagliari 0
Siena 0
Att: 10,000.
Chievo 0
Juventus 0
Att: 22,000.
Genoa 0
Lecce 0
Att: 20,100.
Red card: Kaladze (G) 79.
Lazio 2
Hernanes 51 pen; Klose 90;
Roma 1
Osvaldo 6;
HT: 0-1. Att: 50,000.
Red card: Kjaer (R) 51.
Novara 0
Bologna 2
Ramirez 45; Acquafresca 64;
HT: 0-1. Att: 12,000.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| Udinese | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 12 |
| Cagliari | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 11 |
| Lazio | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 11 |
| Napoli | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 10 |
| Palermo | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| Chievo | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 9 |
| Catania | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Parma | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 9 |
| Fiorentina | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| Genoa | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Roma | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| Milan | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Siena | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Novara | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 5 |
| Atalanta | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
| Inter | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 4 |
| Bologna | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 4 |
| Lecce | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
| Cesena | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
Top scorers
5 goals: Palacio (Genoa), Giovinco (Parma).
4 goals: Denis (Atalanta), Di Natale (Udinese), Osvaldo (Roma).
Next fixtures
Saturday: 18.00 Fiorentina vs Catania. 20.45 Juventus vs Genoa.
Sunday: 12.30 Lecce vs Milan. 15.00 Cagliari vs Napoli; Inter vs Chievo; Par-ma vs Atalanta; Roma vs Palermo; Siena vs Cesena; Udinese vs Novara. 20.45 Bologna vs Lazio.
Prima Divisione A
Carpi vs Spal 1-0; Como vs Benevento 2-1; Foggia vs Reggiana 0-2; Lumezzane vs Tritium 1-0; Monza vs Avellino 1-1; Pavia vs Viareggio 1-2; Pro Vercelli vs Taranto 0-0; Sorrento vs Foligno 1-0; Ternana vs Pisa 1-0.
Standings: Ternana 19; Taranto 16; Como 14; Sorrento (-2), Carpi 13; Tritium 12; Pro Vercelli, Lumezzane 11; Avellino, Pisa 10; Spal (-2) 9; Foggia 8; Pavia, Reggiana (-2), Monza 7; Benevento (-6) 6; Viareggio (-1) 4; Foligno (-1) 0.
Prima Divisione B
Andria vs Frosinone 2-2; Bassano vs Car-rarese 1-0; Cremonese vs Portogruaro 1-2; Latina vs Feralpi Salo 0-1; Piacenza vs Prato 4-3; Siracusa vs Trapani 3-1; Spezia vs Pergocrema 2-0; SudTirol vs Lanciano 1-0. Today: Triestina vs Barletta.
Standings: Pergocrema 18; Frosinone 16; SudTirol, Siracusa (-2), Lanciano (-1), Car-rarese, Barletta 12; Spezia, Trapani, Cremonese (-6), Portogruaro 11; Andria 10; Triestina, Piacenza (-4) 9; Prato 6; Latina, Bassano 5; Feralpi Salo 4.