Miroslav Klose's two goals lead Lazio's Serie A rout of Fiorentina
ROME (AP) — Miroslav Klose scored twice and Lazio made a big statement in the battle for Serie A's final Champions League spot with a 4-0 win over Fiorentina on Monday.
Lucas Biglia opened the scoring with a long volleyed shot six minutes in and Antonio Candreva added a penalty in the 65th before Klose scored two more.
First Klose finished off a counterattack by heading in a rebound then he scored from close-range. The 36-year-old Klose has 11 goals this season — eight in Serie A and three in the Italian Cup — and four goals and two assists in his last four league appearances.
Lazio moved level third with Napoli, while Fiorentina remained fifth, four points behind the Champions League spot. It was Lazio's fourth consecutive win, while Fiorentina's unbeaten run in all competitions ended at 15 matches.
Fiorentina entered the Stadio Olimpico full of confidence after beating Juventus 2-1 in Turin last week in the opening leg of the Italian Cup semifinals. But Lazio controlled from the start and quickly took the lead when Biglia volleyed in from just beyond the area.
Biglia nearly scored again with a near replica of his goal in the 33rd but goalkeeper Neto pushed the shot off the post. Lazio had several more chances in the first half and Fiorentina was fortunate to take a one-goal deficit into the changing rooms.
After a brief spurt from Fiorentina at the start of the second half, defender Nenad Tomovic fouled Felipe Anderson to set up Candreva's penalty.
Klose's first came in the 75th after Fiorentina gave away a free kick by passing the ball directly to Lazio and his second 10 minutes later was another rebound, off his own shot.
