In the Italian Serie A, Lazio travelled to the San Siro to take on Inter Milan, where a win would lift them up second place, five points behind leaders Juventus.
Inter's new coach Stefano Piolo would be facing his old team, with whom he raised his fame and thus earned the opportunity to coach Inter.
The Italian took over the Nerazzurri in November and has led them to three wins from five league games, and Mauro Icardi would help make that four.
But with less than one minute, Lazio's Ciro Immobile forces Samir Handanovic into a diving save and Senad Lulic's effort from the rebound is blocked by a wall of Inter defenders.
Immobile has another chance in the 25th minute, surging to the area and firing low but Handanovic does well to palm it away.
Inter come out rejuvenated in the second half and Ever Banega sends a screamer into the top corner from 25 yards out. A fantastic strike that leaves the keeper no chance and it's 1-0 for Nerazzurri.
A second is only two minutes in coming as Mauro Icardi gets on the end of Danilo D'Ambrosio's cross. The captain's glancing header makes it 2-0 for the hosts.
But Inter are not done yet as Icardi would notch his fifth league double of the campaign in the 65th minute. The Argentine finishes off a training ground move that saw Banega feed him from a set-piece for his 14th goal in 18 Serie A appearances.
Icardi would have a chacne to complete his hat-trick six minutes later but his effort is denied. Lazio would have nothing in reponse and it ends 3-0 for Inter for their fifth straight win at home.
"We did not look at placement before, we will not look at it now and we won’t look at it again until March. I think we can be satisfied with what we are doing now; three consecutive wins are a great result for sure," said Stefano Pioli, Inter Milan coach.
"But we know we can still work a lot more and improve many situations as the level that we must reach if we want to compete with those in front of us is superior to our current level.”
Here's a gander at the table with Juventus on top with 42 points and Roma seven behind. The loss keeps Lazio in fourth place, even on 34 points with Napoli who have a game in hand. Inter remain in seventh with the win, but are now only four points back of the Champions League places.
