Lazio's late winner, then Cagliari's red card in the 90th minute

Lazio beat Cagliari 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico, with Pinamonti's 83rd-minute winner settling it before Obert's dismissal at the very end.

Adam Obert was sent off in the 90th minute, leaving Cagliari with ten men for the final moment of a match that had been level until the 83rd. He had already been booked in the 76th, so the red card arrived fourteen minutes after his first caution. By then Andrea Pinamonti had put Lazio in front, which means the dismissal changed the last few seconds rather than the result.

Lazio had most of the ball, and that was not out of character at home. They usually keep 52 per cent of it at the Olimpico, and this time they had 74. Cagliari normally manage 42.4 per cent away from home and finished with 26, so possession was lopsided. What it did not produce was a flood of chances.

Expected goals is a rough measure of how good each chance was and how likely it was to go in, and Lazio's total came to 1.03. That is below the 1.62 they usually create at home, and below the 1.5 an average side in this league produces in a match. Cagliari's 1.1 was slightly above their 1.04 away average, which means their chances were, if anything, a little better than usual.

M'Bala Nzola opened the scoring in the 20th minute, with Alieu Fadera credited for the assist. Gustav Isaksen levelled in the 36th from a pass by Tijjani Noslin, and he played the full 90 minutes with a goal to his name. Those were the only two goals before the late sequence, and both came from the sort of chances that a side on a good day converts.

Lazio's two goals were fewer than their usual 2.4 at home, and they conceded one, slightly more than their 0.8. Cagliari scored one, a shade above their 0.9 away, and conceded two, well up on the 1.4 they usually give away on the road. Cagliari had made their own changes earlier, and their chances against Lazio's defence were fewer than they usually face.

Pinamonti's winner came from a cross-free finish set up by Alfonso Pedraza, after Lazio had made three changes in the 55th minute to freshen their attack. Cagliari committed eighteen fouls to Lazio's seven, which is the kind of tally a side reaches when it spends much of a match without the ball. Pinamonti was booked in the 84th minute for his part in the celebrations that followed.

At home, Lazio now have 25 points from nine matches, eight wins and a draw. Cagliari's away record this season reads four wins, one draw and four defeats, 13 points from the same number of games. Cagliari's last visit to the Olimpico ended with a man sent off, and that is the detail most likely to stay with anyone who was watching.

Player of the matchG. Isaksen1 goal7.8

M'Bala Nzola1 goal7.5

A. Pinamonti1 goal7.5

K. Taylor2 chances created7.2