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Taco 1920 x 116
Taco 1920 x 116
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Lazio beats AS Roma

Lazio beat arch rivals AS Roma 1-0 in the Coppa Italia final on Sunday 26 May, guaranteeing the club a place in the Europa League next year. Both sides missed numerous opportunities to score throughout the match, except Lazio midfielder Senad Lulic from Bosnia-Herzegovina who scored the winning goal in the 71st minute.

The highly-anticipated game took place at 18.00 at the Stadio Olimpico, some three hours ahead of the usual time because of security fears following violence at the derby on 8 April – the last occasion the two squads met. This time the city didn't take any chances, employing thousands of police both inside and outside the stadium. There were minor clashes between fans and later some incidents involving rock throwing at riot police and cars near the Colosseum but by and large the sporting event went off relatively peacefully. This was despite a number of Lazio players receiving death threats in the days preceding the match, as well as the discovery by police of a cache of homemade weapons hidden under the Ponte della Musica bridge near the stadium the night before the game.

It was a very physical match from start to finish with a total of eight yellow cards — four for each side — handed out, as well as a red card for Rome's Panagiotis Tachtsidis for protests towards the end of the game. However in a rare show of unity, the football fans joined forces in jeering South Korean rapper PSY who attempted to entertain spectators with a disastrous pre-game performance. Amid boos, whistles and firework explosions, organisers tried to drown out the hostile crowd by turning up the volume as PSY sang his hit single “Gangnam Style” to an unappreciative audience.

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Ambrit 1920 x 190
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