Lazio players were booed by their own fans but they restored some pride after a recent poor run to beat bottom club Salernitana 4-1 and climb to seventh place in the Italian league.
The capital club came into the match on the back of losses to rivals Juventus and Roma and fans displayed a banner reading “You Are Not Worthy Of Wearing Our Shirt” before the game.
Recently appointed coach Igor Tudor was without a number of top players, Ciro Immobile and Matteo Guendouzi among them, but the home side showed character and was 2-0 up within 14 minutes against a team that has not won a game since December last year.
Felipe Anderson opened the scoring with a solo goal on Friday after just six minutes and then Matías Vecino doubled Lazio’s lead eight minutes later.
Loum Tchaouna pulled one back for the visitors two minutes later with a powerful header but Anderson restored the two-goal cushion when he finished off an intricate passing move 10 minutes before the break.
Danish winger Gustav Isaksen completed the rout three minutes from the final whistle just seconds after coming on as a substitute.
The win did little to appease the angry home crowd but it moves Lazio a point above Napoli and one behind Atalanta, both of whom have games in hand.
The result was another unhappy night for Salernitana in an already grim season. The club sits bottom of the table with just 15 points from a possible 96 and relegation is almost assured.
