Ciro Immobile has moved to within one goal of Gonzalo Higuaín’s single-season Serie A scoring record with a late strike in Lazio’s 2-0 win over Brescia.
Simone Inzaghi’s side kept their hopes of a second-placed finish alive with a dominant display against opponents who have already been relegated back to Serie B. Immobile set up the opener, exchanging passes with Joaquín Correa who weaved his way through several defenders before scoring from close range.
The hosts had plenty more chances to add to their lead, with Immobile skimming the post, but the striker had to wait until eight minutes from time, finishing from a tight angle for his 35th goal of the season as Correa turned provider. Lazio’s last game of the season is away to Napoli on Saturday.
Immobile is now four goals clear of Cristiano Ronaldo in Serie A’s Capocannoniere race, after the Juventus forward drew a blank in a sobering 2-0 defeat at Cagliari.
Maurizio Sarri made eight changes from the side that sealed a ninth successive title against Sampdoria on Sunday, with only Ronaldo, Miralem Pjanic and Juan Cuadrado keeping their places against hosts that had been in dreadful form.
Walter Zenga’s side had scored just three goals in a run of eight matches without a win, but took the lead after only eight minutes through striker Luca Gagliano. The 20-year-old reacted quickest to prodhome Federico Mattiello’s low cross to score his first goal for the club.
Giovanni Simeone smashed a right-footed shot beyond Gigi Buffon to double the hosts’ lead just before half-time. Ronaldo had seen a goal ruled out for offside and could not find a way past the Cagliari defence in the second period despite Juve dominating possession, with keeper Alessio Cragno in superb form.
In Wednesday’s other late games, Chris Smalling got on the scoresheet as Roma secured fifth place with a 3-2 victory at Torino, while Federico Chiesa’s hat-trick earned Fiorentina an emphatic 4-0 home win over Bologna.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Milan maintained their unbeaten run since the restart with a thumping 4-1 win at Sampdoria. Ibrahimovic opened the scoring after four minutes, heading Ante Rebic’s cross home. Hakan Calhanoglu added a second for Milan in the 54th minute, and then set up Ibrahimovic to score four minutes later.
The Swede’s finish from a narrow angle made him the first player to score 50 league goals for both Milan clubs. Gianluigi Donnarumma then saved Gonzalo Maroni’s penalty but could not stop midfielder Kristoffer Askildsen pulling one back for the hosts. Rafael Leão then added a fourth for Milan in stoppage time.
Lecce kept their hopes of beating the drop alive thanks to Gianluca Lapadula’s late winner at Udinese. The forward struck with nine minutes left as Lecce moved within two points of Genoa, who were hammered at Sassuolo. Francesco Caputo struck twice to take his season tally to 21 as the hosts won 5-0. In their final games Genoa host Verona, who beat relegated Spal 3-0, while Lecce will entertain Parma.
