Rome: Miroslav Klose scored 20 seconds from the end of injury time to hand Lazio derby honours in a 2-1 victory over Roma on a dreadful day of Serie A football that saw five out of seven matches finish goalless.
Only three out of 14 teams managed to find the net in a weekend that produced just 14 goals, three less than the previous worst this season.
On Sunday alone there were just five goals in seven games, the other nine being scored in the three matches on Saturday.
But the derby, which ended a run of five straight Roma successes in the local grudge match, at least provided some drama, albeit controversially.
Pablo Osvaldo had given Roma a fifth minute lead after scoring for the fourth game in a row.
But Simon Kjaer was sent off for bringing down Christian Brocchi in the box and Brazilian Hernanes equalised from the spot before Klose tucked home the late winner.
Lazio coach Edy Reja, who was sent off for celebrating the winner, said he hoped this would improve his standing amongst fans.
"Finally and deservedly we`ve won a derby and I hope that will pacify fans towards me," he said. "Of course after the sending off it was easier but we were the better side."
Roma coach Luis Enrique refused to blame the penalty for his side`s woes.
"Mamma mia, what a finish, I thought we`d earned the draw but we didn`t get the luck we needed," he said.
"We needed to do more in terms of our play and effectiveness. We needed to continue for 90 minutes what we did in the first 15 minutes. But we`re improving we still need more time," added Enrique.
The opening goal was impressive as Miralem Pjanic took a pass from Fernando Gago and dinked the ball over the Lazio defence for Osvaldo to stride onto and cooly slot home.
But just five minutes into the second half Kjaer momentarily tugged at Brocchi`s arm as he ran into the box after which the Lazio midfielder plunged to the ground.
Even the penalty seemed a touch harsh but the red card added more than just insult to injury.
Hernanes admitted as much when he said laughing: "Brocchi did well, we`ve also had dubious penalties against us."
Lazio went on to dominate as Klose sent a header against the bar and Djibril Cisse crashed a brilliant volley against the post.
But deep into injury time Roma caved in as Francesco Matuzalem found Klose in the box and his precise finish beat Maarten Stekelenburg.
Bologna were the only other side to score as they won 2-0 at Novara to climb off the foot of the table.
However, that wasn`t enough to drag them out of the bottom three as they remain behind Inter Milan on goal difference.
No team has won more than half of their six matches so far, leaving Juventus ahead of Udinese on goals scored at the top.
Juve were held at Chievo while Udinese finished with 10 men as they failed to overcome Atalanta.
In the second half Juve substitute Alessandro Del Piero rose unmarked to head against the Chievo post.
He was also in the thick of the action at the other end when he hacked clear an effort from Sergio Pellissier that was trickling towards the line.
Juve coach Antonio Conte was nonetheless satisfied with his team.
"I`m bitter about the result but I can say nothing to my team as they were the ones driving the match," he said.
"They played with the right approach and a good attitude from everyone."
On Saturday Inter`s crisis deepened as they lost for the fourth time in six league games this season in a 2-1 reverse at Catania, leaving them fourth from bottom.
It was also their sixth defeat in nine matches in all competitions, including August`s Italian Supercup, while they also have the worst defence in the league having conceded 13 goals.
Meanwhile AC Milan got back to winning ways as theythumped Palermo 3-0 but Napoli fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Parma.
PTI
First Published: Monday, October 17, 2011, 10:11