Giampaolo Pazzini scored a brace and Kevin Prince Boateng his second goal inside a week as AC Milan outclassed Lazio 3-0 on Saturday to go third in Italy's Serie A.
Lazio ended a run of five games without a win last Monday with a morale-boosting 2-0 victory over Pescara.
However, Vladimir Petkovic's side were reduced to 10 men on the quarter hour when Antonio Candreva was sent off for a foul on the edge of the area.
From then on, Lazio, already missing a number of key players including Miroslav Klose and Frenchman Abdoulay Konko, were playing catch-up.
Milan dominated from the outset and Pazzini opened the scoring five minutes before the interval.
Massimiliano Allegri's side, who beat Barcelona 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in February, were given another boost when Boateng doubled the score on 44 minutes.
Pazzini put the game beyond reach with his second on the hour mark.
Milan's 14th win of the campaign allowed them to leapfrog Lazio into third -- the last Champions League qualifying place in Serie A.
They are now on 48 points, still 11 behind leaders Juventus, but now only five adrift of Napoli who drew 1-1 with Juve on Friday.
The remaining Serie A fixtures will be played on Sunday.
Source: AFP
