MILAN: Felipe Caicedo snatched a late winner to keep Lazio third in Serie A with a 2-1 victory over Sassuolo on Sunday just ahead of city rivals Roma, who beat Brescia 3-0 with England defender Chris Smalling involved in all of his side’s goals.
Champions Juventus maintained their grip on the top of Serie A with a 3-1 win at Atalanta on Saturday, to stay one point ahead of Inter Milan who eased past Torino 3-0.
Serie A top scorer Ciro Immobile struck to put Lazio ahead after 34 minutes in Sassuolo with his 15th league goal this season.
But struggling Sassuolo pulled back a goal back through Francesco Caputo just before the break.
Ecuadorian Caicedo came off the bench to seal a fifth consecutive league win in injury time to keep Lazio seven points behind Inter Milan in third place.
Roma are now two points behind their local rivals after defender Smalling scored and set up the other two goals in a victory over bottom club Brescia.
Smalling, on loan for the season from Manchester United, headed in the first from a corner after 48 minutes in the Stadio Olimpico.
The 30-year-old then provided the cross that allowed fellow defender Gianluca Mancini to volley in eight minutes later, with Edin Dzeko completing the rout on 66 minutes after Smalling’s headed assist.
Brescia, now coached by 2006 World Cup winner Fabio Grosso, remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
Forward Mario Balotelli was dropped for Sunday’s game because of his lack of committment in training.
The Italy international tried to play down Thursday’s training ground bust-up with Grosso.
“Recovery! Coming back soon, for the moment let them talk,” the former Marseille attacker said in a post on Instagram showing him undergoing physiotherapy.
Elsewhere, Samuel Di Carmine scored the only goal as Verona piled the pressure on Fiorentina, despite Franck Ribery returning after his three-match suspension.
The Tuscany side are in tenth place with just one point from their last three games.
Bordeaux edge 10-man Monaco to go third in Ligue 1
Depleted Bordeaux edged in-form Monaco 2-1 on Sunday to claw back into the top three in Ligue 1.
Already deprived of defenders Edson Mexer and Vukasin Jovanovic who were both suspended, midfielder Youssef Ait Bennasser, who could not play because he is on loan from Monaco, Bordeaux lost defender Laurent Koscielny to injury on Sunday morning and winger Jimmy Briand during the warm-up.
Jonathan Cafu, who was on loan at Red Star Belgrade last season, made his first appearance since 2018 on the left side of a back five and struggled.
Monaco, who had climbed away from the relegation zone with three victories in their previous four league games, took the lead with a goal by Islam Slimani on 15 minutes.
After that, even though the home fans fell silent in the first half as part of a protest against the Bordeaux owners, the visitors could not exploit the makeshift home defense.
Pablo levelled with a powerful header from a corner after 29 minutes. In the 67th minute, Slimani handled while standing in the wall at a free kick, conceding a penalty and incurring his second yellow card.
Nicolas de Preville coolly converted the spot-kick to give Bordeaux victory.
Bordeaux climbed to 22 points from 14 matches, 11 behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain and two behind Angers. They lead Marseille, who visit Toulouse later on Sunday, on goal difference.
