Lazio maintained their position at the top of the Italian Serie A table after defeating Parma 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday, with Kenneth Taylor scoring before an own goal from Diego Carlos put the hosts in control.
The victory extended Lazio’s impressive start to the season, taking their record to seven wins and one draw from eight matches.
They have now recorded their best-ever start to a Serie A campaign.
Lazio entered the encounter following an emphatic 3-0 away victory over Juventus and were hoping to strengthen their position at the summit.
Parma, meanwhile, were looking to recover from consecutive 3-0 defeats against Inter Milan and Torino.
Parma threatened early, with David Romero forcing goalkeeper Christos Mandas into a save after a counter-attack.
Mandas was called into action again to deny an El-Bilal Toure header as the visitors looked to take the lead.
Lazio also created several opportunities, with Gustav Isaksen hitting the crossbar with a header from Mattia Zaccagni’s cross.
Isaksen later thought he had put the hosts ahead, but his effort was ruled out for offside before the break.
The breakthrough finally arrived five minutes into the second half when Taylor collected the ball following a pass from Reda Belahyane that deflected off Diego Carlos.
The midfielder then fired a left-footed effort into the far corner to give Lazio the lead.
Eight minutes later, Lazio doubled their advantage after Parma made a costly mistake while attempting to play out from the back.
Nuno Tavares sent a cross into the penalty area, and Diego Carlos inadvertently turned the ball into his own net while trying to prevent Tijjani Noslin from scoring.
Lazio continued to threaten, with Zaccagni, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Davide Frattesi all coming close to adding another goal.
Parma struggled to create clear chances as the hosts appeared to be heading for a comfortable victory.
However, Parma produced a late response in stoppage time when Simone Lontani curled an effort towards goal, narrowly missing the target.
The forward subsequently found the net in the 95th minute after Giovanni Fabbian set him up, with the ball crossing the line after bouncing off the inside of the far post.
The late goal proved insufficient to deny Lazio all three points, as the hosts held on to remain top of the table.
The defeat was Parma’s third consecutive loss and their first goal since Alberto Gilardino took charge of the team.
