Lazio’s chances of maintaining its position in the top four of Serie A in the competitive race for the Champions League slots were dashed on Monday when it was held to a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Hellas Verona.
After joining Verona last month, Cyril Ngonge made his debut and scored his first goal for the team, canceling out Pedro’s opening goal.
Atalanta and AC Milan, who both suffered losses over the weekend, were edged out by Lazio by one point. It lagged Inter Milan in second place by four points and Roma by one point.
Verona closed the gap to safety to four points. When Sampdoria played at Monza late in the season, it was five points further behind and trying to snap a five-match losing streak.
Lazio wanted to climb up to third in Serie A.
On the cusp of halftime, it miraculously snapped the tie. Pedro and Danilo Cataldi performed a one-two before Pedro collected with his back to the goal and swiveled to curl an incredible strike into the upper left corner.
when Darko Lazović whipped in a free kick for Ngonge to head in at the near post.
After setting up the equalizer, Lazović almost turned it around completely two minutes later but his fierce effort came off the right post.