MILAN: Ciro Immobile scored a hat-trick on Saturday to help Lazio crush Sampdoria 5-1 as Simone Inzaghi’s side continued to look like a genuine title contender.

It was a club record-extending 11th straight Serie A win for Lazio and saw the team close within three points of leaders Juventus, and one behind second-place Inter Milan.

Lazio will be full of confidence ahead of a tough week. They face Roma in the capital derby next weekend after continuing their defense of the Coppa Italia against Napoli.

“We’ll enjoy this 11th win but we have to already be thinking about the next matches,” Inzaghi said. “We know what a derby means but I can’t allow myself to think about Roma.”Immobile has 23 league goals this season, nine more than any other player and three more than Sampdoria’s overall total.

“We would need too much time to count his records,” Inzaghi said. “We are talking about an extraordinary team player. He has shown that so many times. Immobile has been doing extraordinary things for four years, I’m not surprised.”Lazio dominated from the start and were 3-0 up inside 20 minutes.

Immobile also had a hand in the opener as Audero could only parry his effort, allowing Felipe Caicedo to tap in the rebound.

Immobile, who turns 30 on Monday, then converted a penalty following Nicola Murru’s handball, and doubled his tally three minutes later.

Sampdoria managed to hold Lazio at bay for the remainder of the first half but substitute Bastos extended the home side’s lead nine minutes into the second period, shortly after coming off the bench.

Immobile completed his hat-trick with another penalty, in the 65th, after Omar Colley handled.

Karol Linetty grabbed a consolation goal but Sampdoria’s misery was complete three minutes later when defender Julian Chabot was shown a straight red card for a foul on Lazio forward Bobby Adekanye as he was running clear on goal.

Teenager Duan Vlahovi scored a stunning goal in Fiorentina’s 2-0 win at Napoli.

The 19-year-old Vlahovi had scored three impressive goals already this season and he added to his collection in the 74th minute.

Vlahovi collected a cross-field pass on the right flank, took one look up as he cut inside and curled the ball into the far side of the net.

Federico Chiesa had given Fiorentina the lead in the 26th, finishing off a delightful team move with a low shot into the bottom left corner.

Lorenzo Insigne hit the post for Napoli early in the second half.

Fiorentina moved up to 13th, level on points with Napoli, which has lost four of its five league matches under Gennaro Gattuso.

“We must apologise to the fans and the city, it was an embarrassing performance, today we were unwatchable,” said Gattuso.“We have hit rock bottom and we need to understand what we are going towards, we are a soulless team.”

In Reggio Emilia, Sassuolo eased their relegation fears with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Europa League hopefuls Torino.

The hosts fell behind after Manuel Locatelli turned into his own net on 20 minutes.

But Ivory Coast international Jeremie Boga scored a stunning long-range goal after an hour and then set up Domenico Berardi for the winner on 73 minutes.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2020