Rome: Lazio and Udinese shared the spoils in Serie A on Sunday, after both sides played out a 2-2 draw at the Stadio Olimpico.
Antonio Floro Flores broke the deadlock for the visitors midway through the first half, then Senad Lulic and Miroslav Klose put the game in the home team's favour. However, Giampiero Pinzi's late strike ensured the Zebrette left the Italian capital with a point.
The match started in favour of Lazio, as Udinese initially struggled to match the fluency of their hosts, and were forced to settle for a cagey start. Eyebrows were also raised upon the discovery of the teamsheets as Edy Reja opted for a three-man back line.
However, the Zebrette worked hard to deny Edy Reja's side from carving out any noteworthy attempts, with only a Cristian Ledesma snapshot to show for their efforts, and they eventually earned a reprieve for their spirited approach on 27 minutes.
Pinzi managed to find Giovanni Pasquale in bundles of space down the left-hand side, and the former Inter wing-back proceeded to whip an inch-perfect ball onto the head of Floro Flores, who broke through Andre Dias and Stefan Radu to nod home.
Lazio were not prepared to sit back for too long, though, as Lulic capitalised on lackadaisical defending from Dusan Basta, who failed to close down his Bosnian counterpart, and struck a low shot past Samir Handanovic.
It got worse for Francesco Guidolin's side after the interval as Tommaso Rocchi glanced a cross into the path of Klose, who slammed the ball home on the volley from close range on 51 minutes.
Hernanes' introduction to the match sparked more potential openings for Lazio, who now had the initiative, and he almost made an instant impact upon his arrival after feeding through Klose with a defence-splitting through ball, but the German couldn't beat Handanovic one-on-one.
Udinese had an ace in the pack of their own in Antonio Di Natale, who was thrown on by Guidolin, and his fantastic awareness allowed him to find an onrushing Pinzi, who charged into the box and slipped the ball under Albano Bizzarri to restore parity with 17 minutes to spare.
The remaining 15 minutes saw an influx of attacking verve from the hosts, but they could not find the elusive winner. Giuseppe Sculli and Rocchi both had great chances to bag the three points for Lazio, but Handanovic was on hand each time.
Alvaro Gonzalez could have netted the winner for the Biancocelesti in injury-time, as he came agonisingly close to making contact with a low cross in the box.
In the end the points were shared and Lazio sit in fourth place in the table, with Udinese, remaining in third spot.
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