Lazio into third with draw at Verona

Hellas, who won an appeal against seeing part of their stadium locked down due to alleged racist chanting, had the ball in the back of the net after 20 minutes but Toni was correctly flagged offside.

Both sides created openings as the first period wore on before Senad Lulic pounced from six yards to give Lazio the lead on 42 minutes.

Verona defender Frederik Sorensen nearly made a disastrous impact as substitute straight after the restart when his diving header almost resulted in a spectacular own goal – an incident which sparked the hosts into life as they poured forward in search of a leveller.

They found a breakthrough when Pedro Luis Cavanda blatantly held back Juanito Gomez Taleb by the arm for a penalty, with the right-back dismissed for a second bookable offence. Toni stepped up and converted, putting the hosts on level terms.

Lazio showed solidity by holding on with 10 men for the last half-hour, allowing Verona few scoring opportunities, as they joined Milan, Sampdoria and Udinese on 16 points.