In-form Immobile fires Lazio into sixth place at depleted Salernitana

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:00 am

Ciro Immobile scored twice to climb to the top of the Serie A scoring charts as Lazio beat COVID-hit bottom side Salernitana 3-0 on Saturday to go sixth.

The Italy international struck twice in the opening 10 minutes to take his tally for the season to 17 goals, one more than Fiorentina's Dusan Vlahovic.

Immobile's second was his 140th Serie A goal since joining the Roman club ahead of the 2016/17 campaign.

That tally is second only to Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (179 goals) and Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain (163) in Europe's top-five leagues during that period.

The 31-year-old was close to a hat-trick when his glancing header struck the underside of the bar, as the visitors dominated against a Salernitana side missing six players through COVID-19.

Substitute Manuel Lazzari completed a comfortable win by finishing off a flowing counter-attack after the break.

Maurizio Sarri's side rose to sixth place on 35 points, three behind Juventus, while Salernitana remain bottom with 11 points.

Elsewhere, ninth-placed Torino came from behind to beat relegation battling Sampdoria 2-1 in Genoa, as Wilfried Singo and Dennis Praet responded to Francesco Caputo's opener.