Ciro Immobile was sent off as 10-man Lazio crashed to a 3-1 Serie A defeat against Torino in Rome on Monday.
Italian international Immobile saw red just before the break for a headbutt aimed at Torino defender Nicolas Burdisso. The defeat ended Lazio’s hopes of joining city rival Roma in fourth.
Andrea Belotti and Immobile both rattled the woodwork in the first half before tempers flared following a blatant Iago Falque handball in the penalty area. A furious Immobile, angered at Lazio not being awarded a penalty, jerked his head towards Burdisso in a face-to-face between the rivals. The Lazio player was sent off after the referee consulted the VAR (video assistant referee).
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All four goals were scored in the second half with Alex Berenguer opening after 54 minutes and Venezuelan Tomas Rincon adding a second ten minutes later after a solo break from midfield through the Lazio defence.
Simone Edera sealed the win on 73 minutes.
Luis Alberto pulled a goal back to give a glimmer of hope to the hosts who played the entire second half without Immobile, their top scorer.
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The win moves Torino up from 12th to eighth position, with Lazio, which has a game in hand, staying fifth, eight points behind leader Inter Milan.
The game between Genoa and Atalanta was postponed till Tuesday because of snow in northern Italy.
The results : Serie A : Lazio 1 (Luis Alberto 69) lost to Torino 3 (Alejandro Berenguer 54, Rincon 64, Edera 73).
La Liga: Girona 1 (David Timor 45+1) bt Espanyol 0.