Lazio climb to second with 1-0 win over Monza

Lazio climbed to second place in Serie A after a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Monza on Thursday thanks to a second-half goal from substitute Luka Romero.

Monza thought they had taken the lead after 13 minutes, but Andrea Petagna's effort was ruled out due to offside after a VAR check.

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The first half was tight and Lazio sealed victory in the 69th minute when Monza keeper Michele Di Gregorio could not hold Pedro's shot and Romero reacted quickly to the loose ball and put it in the net.

Lazio are second in the standings with 30 points from 14 games, eight behind leaders Napoli. Monza are 15th with 13 points.

"The table is worth nothing at this stage of the season so we won't look at it. What gives us hope is that we won in a situation where last season we often tended to struggle," Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.

Lazio completed second win in a row against Monza after edging AS Roma 1-0 in the Rome derby on Sunday.

"On a psychological level, clearly, this was the most difficult match, coming after the tension of the derby, so there was the elevated risk of a collapse in intensity. We did have that for a while in the opening half-hour but, fortunately, we got out of it and went on to win," Sarri said.