Lazio remain at the top of the Serie A table thanks to Kenneth Taylor and an unfortunate own goal by Diego Carlos, while Parma suffer their third consecutive defeat.
The biancocelesti had a great opportunity to strengthen their lead on equal points with Inter and move away from the chasing pack after the 3-0 away win against Juventus. Albert Gudmundsson, Nicolò Rovella and Adam Marusic were still unavailable, but Kenneth Taylor recovered from a knock and confirmed the same starting eleven fielded in Turin. Andrea Pinamonti, on the other hand, was dealing with a sore throat.
Parma had lost both matches since Alberto Gilardino replaced Carlos Cuesta, falling 3-0 to both Inter and Torino. Nesta Elphege, sidelined by appendicitis, joined the list of unavailable players, which also included Pontus Almqvist and Hans Nicolussi Caviglia.
David Romero had the first chance after six minutes, breaking from midfield and forcing Christos Mandas to save with his legs at the near post.
Davide Frattesi vainly appealed for a penalty after going down under pressure from Mariano Troilo. Shortly after, Mandas was called into action again on a counterattack, making a great save to deny El-Bilal Touré’s header.
Reda Belahyane tested Edoardo Corvi with a shot from distance, but in the 24th minute Gustav Isaksen came very close to scoring: his header from Mattia Zaccagni’s soft cross struck the crossbar.
Moments later, Romero broke away on another counterattack, forcing Mandas to intervene once more.
Lazio thought they had taken the lead in the 41st minute when Isaksen latched onto Tijjani Noslin’s through ball and rounded Corvi. However, offside was confirmed because the Dane’s knee and toes were beyond the defensive line.
A sudden long-range effort from Taylor tested Corvi, but the biancocelesti’s opening goal came only after the break.
Belahyane’s through ball was intended for Zaccagni but was deflected by Diego Carlos. Taylor pounced on the ball and, from the edge of the box, curled a left-footed shot with the inside of his boot into the far bottom corner.
Lazio nearly doubled their lead moments later when Frattesi shot high from about twelve yards while trying to redirect Romano Floriani Mussolini’s wayward effort.
Parma collapsed and made a serious error in building from the back. Nuno Tavares was able to volley the cross from the left, while Diego Carlos, in an attempt to prevent Noslin from tapping the ball in, inadvertently diverted it into his own net.
In the action, Corvi accidentally received a blow to the back of the head, suffering a deep wound.
A deflected shot from Zaccagni went just over the crossbar. Fisayo Dele-Bashiru shot high after a promising run, Frattesi fired wide from Manuel Lazzari’s assist, and an exhausted Nuno Tavares failed to make the most of Dele-Bashiru’s pass.
Parma’s only real chance in the second half came in stoppage time, when Simone Lontani curled a right-footed shot just wide.
Shortly after, still in stoppage time, a cross from Lontani on the left byline troubled Mandas. The ball bounced off the inside of the far post and goal-line technology confirmed it had fully crossed the line.
It was Parma’s first goal in the Gilardino era.
For Lazio, it is their best start to a season in their history: seven wins and a 2-2 draw against Milan.