Pedro’s penalty in second-half stoppage time piled more pressure on AC Milan boss Sergio Conceicao as Lazio walked away 2-1 victors from a hostile San Siro on Sunday.
The result leaves Milan languishing in ninth in the Serie A table, six points adrift of a European place after a third consecutive defeat in the Italian top-flight.
Ahead of the game, Milan ultras had left their sector empty until the 15th minute in protest about the club’s form, but returned in time to see Mattia Zaccagni put Lazio ahead.
Adam Marusic saw his effort saved by Milan captain Mike Maignan, but Zaccagni slammed home the rebound on his 150th appearance for Lazio in the 28th minute.
Milan’s task of levelling the contest was made even more difficult in the 67th minute when Strahinja Pavlovic received a straight red card for a poor tackle on Gustav Isaksen.
But, with seven minutes remaining, the hosts hauled themselves level through substitute Samuel Chukwueze, whose header cannoned against the crossbar on its way in.
The game looked to be ending level until Lazio were awarded a late penalty after Isaksen was felled by Maignan, with a spot-kick awarded after a VAR review.
And Pedro stepped up to coolly dispatch from 12 yards, sending Maignan the wrong way and moving Lazio up to fourth and eight points behind leaders Napoli.
Conceicao’s tenure with Milan started brightly, having guided his new team to the Supercoppa Italiana in January, but those fortunes have since changed drastically.
Milan have now lost three games in a row in Serie A for the first time since between January and February 2023, while this was their eighth defeat of the season, only having more after 27 games of a campaign back in 2019-20 (10).
But matters were not helped by Pavlovic’s dismissal. Indeed, in Serie A this season, only Hellas Verona (seven) have received more red cards than Milan, though Lazio were worthy of just their second win at the San Siro since 1994-95.
They ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.85 from their 21 shots on target, with Pedro’s winner, timed at 97 minutes and three seconds, the second latest goal scored by Lazio in their last 20 Serie A seasons (since 2005-06).
