ROME: An added time penalty earned Lazio a 2-1 win over AC Milan at the Stadio Meazza in San Siro where the hosts had equalised despite going down to 10-men and endured a hostile atmosphere from their own fans protesting the club owners.

Milan are ninth in the standings on 41 points, having been overtaken by AS Roma who beat Como 2-1 earlier on Sunday, while Lazio moved into fourth place on 50 points, one ahead of Juventus who host Hellas Verona on Monday.

The game began under a subdued atmosphere, with the Milan Curva Sud ultras leaving their sector empty until the 15th minute in protest against the owner Gerry Cardinale, along with the manager and players in a disappointing season.

The home fans missed little from their own side as it was all Lazio in the early stages.

Boulaye Dia was sent through by Nicolo Rovella one-on-one with the keeper but Mike Maignan was quick off his line and spread himself well to save with his foot.

A pullback from the byline by Nuno Tavares was almost put into his own net by Milan defender Strahinja Pavlovic and Gustav Isaksen’s shot from distance went just wide of the upright and Lazio took a well-deserved lead in the 28th minute.

Adam Marusic had his shot palmed away by Maignan but the ball fell to Mattia Zaccagni in the six-yard box for an easy tap-in at the back post.

Milan piled forward after the break, Felix firing over with a shot on the turn and Santiago Gimenez glanced a header just wide but their chances of a comeback were dealt a hammer blow in the 67th minute when Pavlovic was sent off.

The defender was shown a red card for a foul on Isaksen when Lazio launched a counter-attack but six minutes from the end Samuel Chukwueze powered a header past Ivan Provedel, getting on the end of a Rafael Leao cross.

Milan looked to have salvaged a point, until Maignan took down Isaksen in the box and Pedro converted from the spot to condemn Conceicao’s side to a third successive league defeat.

Barcelona tops

Barcelona returned to the top of the Spanish league table with a comfortable 4-0 home victory over 10-man Real Sociedad.

A sixth straight league win moved Barca into first place with 57 points from 26 games, one ahead of Atletico Madrid. Defending champions Real Madrid are third with 54 points after a 2-1 defeat at Real Betis on Saturday.

Sociedad attempted to catch Barca off guard straight after the whistle and thought they had taken the lead through Sergio Gomez’s deflected strike, only for the VAR to disallow the third-minute goal for offside.

The visitors’ early momentum then evaporated after they went down to 10 men when defender Aritz Elustondo bundled over Barcelona’s Dani Olmo in the 17th minute and was shown a red card as the last man.

It did not take long for Barcelona to make their advantage count.

Hansi Flick’s side opened the scoring in the 25th minute with a fine team effort that started with Lamine Yamal dribbling past two players before squaring for Olmo, whose chipped pass was volleyed home by Gerard Martin for his first professional goal.

Three minutes later, Marc Casado matched the achievement when Olmo’s long-range shot deflected off of him and into the net.

Barcelona kept up the pressure after the interval and created chance after chance, adding a third goal in the 56th minute when a rebound from goalkeeper Alex Remiro’s save was headed in by Araujo.

With a sizeable lead in hand, Flick made a triple substitution to preserve his players for their Champions League last-16 first-leg clash with Portuguese side Benfica on Wednesday.

Barcelona continued to look dangerous despite the changes and scored a fourth when striker Robert Lewandowski smartly redirected an effort from Araujo to net his 21st league goal of the season and wrap up the victory.

The goal was Lewandowski’s 34th in all competitions this season, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues and the most he has scored for Barcelona in a single campaign since joining the Catalan giants in 2022.

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