Lazio will go into the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie knowing that they will likely need to win to overcome Sparta Prague after 1-1 draw in the home leg.
Martin Frydek scored a magnificent goal early on to give the hosts the lead but Marco Parolo’s tap-in secured a crucial away goal for Lazio.
Agree with our ratings? Please leave us your comments below
Sparta Prague
David Bicik – 6 – Untroubled
Perhaps the goalkeeper could have done better on saving Hoedt’s header for the opening goal, which he parried back out into the six yard area. Perhaps he would have expected a busier evening but his defenders helped him out no doubt.
Ondrej Zaustel – 5.5 – Rash
Hemmed in defence against the speed merchant and received a booking for his trouble for his tackle on Biglia.
Jakub Brabec – 6.5 – Solid
Difficult night for the young 23-year-old in dealing with a tricky Lazio attack spearheaded by the creativity of Keita and Candrva but ultimately it was a challenge, which he was certainly up to often stifling attacks from the Aquile.
Mario Holek – 6.5 – Composed
Like his Czech central defensive partner, holes played an important role in keeping Matri firmly at bay in the first half.
Costa Nhamoinesu – 6 – Difficulty
Against a player of great technical quality like Antonio Candreva, Nhamoinesu was always going to struggle. Play was temporarily on the 26th minutes for alleged racist chants by the Lazio fans against him, a timely reminder of one of football’s biggest problems.
Lukas Marecek – 6 – Worker
Put himself about in the midfield and almost made it 2-1 for the hosts ten minutes from time with a powerful shot that was saved by Federico Marchetti.
Lukas Vacha – 5.5 – Inconsistent
Tough tackles from the midfielder in the middle of the park but was lacking in his passing accuracy tonight.
Borek Dockal – 5.5 – Letdown
Disappointing performance from a player with a significant amount of international clearance. The 27-year-old didn’t even last until the hour mark being replaced by Fatai.
Martin Frydek – 6.5 – Wonderstrike
His goal is likely to be the best that you’ll see out of the quarter finals tie in the cup competitions. Showed great technique in taking in Lafita’s touch and wrapping his foot around the ball to beat Marchetti all ends up.
Ladislav Krejci – 6.5 – Sprakplug
Enjoyed freedom against Konko in the first half and ran hard against him in what was one of his team’s best performers.
David Lafata – 6.5 – Diminishing
A real thorn in Lazio’s side early on but gradually faded in influence until substituted . The 31-year-old attacker troubled the Lazio defence often and his clever lofted through ball paved the way for Frydek’s strike.
Substitutes
Kehinde Fatai (59 minutes) – 5 – Error strewn
Not a marked improvement on Dockal as he failed to impose himself and gave the ball away several times.
Lukas Julis (62 minutes) – 5.5 – Helpless
Barely made an impact as his team focused rather on defending and making sure they brought home a positive result.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com