Lazio manager Simone Inzaghi has admitted his players are "a little down" after surrendering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 defeat at Atalanta on Wednesday that saw the Rome club fall off the pace in the Serie A title race.
Lazio, playing their first game since February 29 after the coronavirus lockdown, went ahead after six minutes courtesy of a Marten De Roon own-goal, with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic adding a superb second from distance five minutes later.
But Robin Gosens headed fourth-placed Atalanta back into the game seven minutes before the break and Ruslan Malinovskyi riflled in the equaliser on 66 minutes.
Jose Luis Palomino then sealed the home win 10 minutes from time.
Lazio - bidding for their third Serie A title after 1974 and 2000 - have lost just three times in the league this season. Their most recent defeat before Wednesday was 1-0 at the hands of Inter Milan on September 25.
"We knew that returning against Atalanta was one of the worst opponents to have," said Inzaghi, whose side were held 3-3 by the Bergamo side in Rome in October.
"Unfortunately the title race gets more complicated and we regret this, because we're coming off a long series of unbeaten games. I don't like losing and the lads are a little down."
Atalanta are four points behind third-placed Inter Milan, who were held 3-3 at home against Sassuolo earlier Wednesday.
Eight-time reigning champions Juventus were the only one of the top three to win this week with their 2-0 victory in Bologna on Monday.
'The draw hurts us'
Romelu Lukaku struck his 25th goal of the season but Inter's title hopes stalled.
"The draw hurts us," said Inter manager Antonio Conte. "We had several chances to kill off the game. There is a lot of regret. If we look at the goals there is so much to be reviewed, small and big individual errors."
Conte's side got off to the worst possible start at the San Siro with Italian forward Francesco Caputo opening the scoring for the visitors after just four minutes.
Caputo, 32, punished some poor defending, picking up a Filip Djuricic cross to slide the ball past a stunned Samir Handanovic.
But a Jeremie Boga foul on Milan Skriniar allowed Inter to get back into the game as Lukaku stepped up on 41 minutes to score from the penalty spot.
Cristiano Biraghi then broke through following good work with Alexis Sanchez for the defender's first league goal for Inter in first-half stoppage time.
Inter could rue Roberto Gagliardini's spectacularly missed chance to give the hosts a two-goal cushion, hitting the crossbar in front of goal.
Three goals came in the final ten minutes with Domenico Berardi pulling Sassuolo level from the penalty spot on 81 minutes.
Lukaku had a goal ruled offside before Borja Valero latched onto an Antonio Candreva free-kick to tap in five minutes later.
But defender Giangiacomo Magnani bagged a point for 12th-placed Sassuolo with one minute to go.
Conte's woes were compounded by defender Skriniar being sent-off in extra time.
Roma stay fifth, six points behind Atalanta, after a hard-fought 2-1 win over relegation-threatened Sampdoria thanks to a second-half Edin Dzeko brace -- two volleys, one with his left foot and the other with his right.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Find the right policy for you
Don’t wait until the week you fly to sign up for insurance – get it when you book your trip. Insurance covers you for cancellation and anything else that can go wrong before you leave.
Some insurers, such as World Nomads, allow you to book once you are travelling – but, as Mr Mohammed found out, pre-existing medical conditions are not covered.
Check your credit card before booking insurance to see if you have any travel insurance as a benefit – most UAE banks, such as Emirates NBD, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, have cards that throw in insurance as part of their package. But read the fine print – they may only cover emergencies while you’re travelling, not cancellation before a trip.
Pre-existing medical conditions such as a heart condition, diabetes, epilepsy and even asthma may not be included as standard. Again, check the terms, exclusions and limitations of any insurance carefully.
If you want trip cancellation or curtailment, baggage loss or delay covered, you may need a higher-grade plan, says Ambareen Musa of Souqalmal.com. Decide how much coverage you need for emergency medical expenses or personal liability. Premium insurance packages give up to $1 million (Dh3.7m) in each category, Ms Musa adds.
Don’t wait for days to call your insurer if you need to make a claim. You may be required to notify them within 72 hours. Gather together all receipts, emails and reports to prove that you paid for something, that you didn’t use it and that you did not get reimbursed.
Finally, consider optional extras you may need, says Sarah Pickford of Travel Counsellors, such as a winter sports holiday. Also ensure all individuals can travel independently on that cover, she adds. And remember: “Cheap isn’t necessarily best.”
