Serie A debutants Monza have found life on the road tough so far, but they were the brighter of the two sides in the first half.
In the first league meeting since 1985/86, the visitors were on the front foot in the opening exchanges, and they thought they had taken the lead with a wonder goal, when Andrea Colpani’s squared pass was diverted in by his namesake Petagna.
He pirouetted before backheeling the ball past Ivan Provedel, but the effort was ruled out for offside and Lazio breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Woken up by what could have been an early setback, Lazio looked to impose themselves, and they came close when Matias Vecino received a pass from Felipe Anderson before curling a shot just wide of the right post.
Colpani was a bright spark for the visitors in the first half, epitomising the confidence Raffaele Palladino’s side were playing with, and he almost gave them the lead when he dragged a shot agonisingly wide of the right post from just outside the area.
The first 25 minutes of the second half were desperately disappointing from an attacking perspective, with neither side showing any quality going forward.
It felt very much as if a moment of brilliance or a defensive error was going to be key to breaking the deadlock, and it proved to be the latter when Michele Di Gregorio spilt Pedro’s first-time shot and Romero was on hand to poke home the rebound to give Lazio the lead.
For all of their impressive build-up play, the visitors were poor in the final third, and failed to register a single shot on target all night as their away day woes continued.
They remain 15th in the standings, while Lazio climb to second - albeit still eight points behind leaders Napoli.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Luka Romero (Lazio)
